Your Average Delinquent
by dfxcm
Summary: Yu Yu Hakusho. Spirit detectives. A new delinquent. It's a girl! Kurama has a cousin! Yusuke isn't Sarayashiki's number one fighter anymore! What's going on! Rated M for violence and language.
1. Mongolian Chop Squad

Yo. So I decided to make a story with an OC since I felt like I haven't been posting anything up lately. The only problem with this is that I don't know who is going to read it since it's a story about Yu Yu Hakusho and that show ended maybe two years ago (it used to play at 6:30 A.M. on Cartoon Network). It might be just nostalgia that made me do this. Yu Yu Hakusho has so much potential for plot development. It was a tough decision between this and Bleach, but I couldn't resist a story with delinquents and my friend "Jeri" told me that since I already have stuff about Bleach, I should go with Yu Yu Hakusho.

**Note:** Anything in _italics_ is Hikari thinking.

**Disclaimer:** All characters besides Hikari Morino belong to Yoshiro Togashi.

**Warning: **This is rated M for language.

* * *

_My name is Hikari Morino. I'm fourteen years old and I go to Sarayashiki Junior High School. I was born in Mongolia, where I lived the first couple of years of my life before I was sent to my grandmother Japan with my sister. I am full Japanese and I live with my older sister and I have absolutely no friends whatsoever._

Dragging her feet to school was middle schooler, Hikari Morino, just your ordinary delinquent. She often liked to think as if she were narrating her own life while it happened as if it were for someone that was reading her mind.

_Yeah, I bet you other asses think you're better than I am. I hope you inhale rice into your lungs. It sucks bungholes being a new student._

She entered her school and changed her shoes before heading up to her class. It was just her second day of school, and she already hated it.

_What a crappy school… This place sucks. What are you looking at buttface? Yeah, that's right, look away. Tch, douchebag._

Hikari took her seat by the window and just sat there completely zoning out. She didn't notice when, but she had snapped back into reality twenty minutes into the lesson without anyone saying a word to her about it. Looking around, she realized why they weren't really talking. It was because most of them were sleeping, others were talking, and there were some who were gambling.

Taking a look back at the teacher, she saw that he really didn't pay attention, or seem to care in fact. Hikari watched the teacher adjust his thick black rimmed glasses before writing a few more things on the chalkboard and droning on with his lecture.

_What a determined old fart. I bet I could just walk out of this class without anyone noticing even if I made a loud noise._

Out of nowhere, she got up abruptly from her chair, making her seat skid back a few feet with a loud screeching noise. No one even spared her a glance. All she did was shrug and walk out. She didn't need that place if it wasn't going to do her any good.

Hikari was turning a corner when she bumped into someone and fell backwards onto the hard floor.

She gritted her teeth and slowly got up.

"What the fuck, man? Shit that hurt. You could at least apologize you asshole," Hikari muttered as she brushed the dirt off of her skirt. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

In a split second, she was grabbed by the collar and brought very close to someone's face.

"Who do I think I am? I'm Yusuke Urameshi! I'm the number one fighter in Sarayashiki Junior High! That's who I am!" the guy named Yusuke yelled in her face before letting her go.

Hikari had been just barely tip-toeing the entire time and so when he let her go, she stumbled around a bit before she regained her footing. She glared at him and spit at his feet.

"Words means nothing. You gotta prove it."

"Fighting girls ain't my style," he said conceitedly.

_That ass!! He thinks he's better than me just because he's a dude! As if!! I'll show him!! I'll be able to let out some of this anger as well._

Without any warning, Hikari attacked with a punch right next to his face as a warning that she wasn't one to be provoked. Yusuke stared at her wide eyed with surprise. On the inside Hikari smirked to herself.

_Yeah, that's right. I know all sorts of fighting styles. I can kick your ass out of Japan. Don't underestimate me just because I'm a girl you idiot._

Right outside the classroom, they fought. Punch. Block. Kick. Duck. Knee to groin. Going down.

"Bitch!" Yusuke said with much difficulty as he held his genitals while he was cringing in pain on the ground. "That hurt! What a cheap ass shot!"

Chuckling all the while, she said, "It's totally fair though. Well then, see ya around, former number one fighter of Sarayashiki Junior High."

_Ohhhh yeah. That felt good. Stupid guy trying to tell me that he's stronger than me._

Continuing to walk out of the school the new student heard the injured punk yell, "Hey! Come back here! I'm not done with you yet!"

"When you're on the floor holding your balls, you're done!" she yelled without looking back.

She left the school. Her destination was an unknown one. After walking a couple blocks, she decided to browse the shops.

_Geeze. Why the hell are all these older guys watching me? Oh I get it. It's because I'm so irresistably cute in my school uniform, huh? Like this sailor uniform, huh? Yeah, get a good look… AS IF!! QUIT STARING!! YOU PERVERTS!!_

Feeling vey uncomfortable, Hikari made a quick dash into a nearby store. She immediately went into the back and browsed the racks there. From the back of the store, she could see through the front glass window that the guys were still there.

While in the store, Hikari decided to buy one new outfit to change into. After purchasing her new pain of jeans and jersey, she quickly changed into it in the fitting foorms and put her school clothes in a plastic bag. Leaving that store, she went into the one next door and bought a hat.

_That's right you perverts. I'm not cute anymore. I look like a tomboy now._

Walking around, Hikari didn't find anything else that interesting so she went home.

Meanwhile, in the Spirit World, the baby boss was assigning a mission to his spirit detective team. All four of them were standing around in his office. Yusuke was pissed off because of what happened to him earlier that day.

"Hey, pacifier breath, can you hurry it up and tell us what our mission is? I've got things to do," Yusuke said.

"Watch it Yusuke," Koenma warned. "Your mission concerns this girl."

He picked up a remote and pressed a button. A picture on a screen appeared behind him.

Yusuke immediately pointed and shouted, "THAT CHICK KICKED ME IN THE BALLS EALIER TODAY!!"

Kurama cleared his throat and Hiei called him a weak idiot while Koenma said, "Thank you for sharing."

Folding his hands in front of his face, Koenma said, "Her name is Hikari Morino. She is fourteen years old and is a new student at your school."

"And we're gonna kick her ass because she a demon in disguise right?" Yusuke asked while cracking his knuckles.

"No, you're not going to fight her," Koenma said immediately killing Yusuke's hopes and dreams. "I believe she is a relative of Kurama's though."

Koenma picked up a file on his desk and said, "Ah yes, you two are cousins but your parents never introduced you to each other since her parents live in different countries since before she was born so they've never really had the chance to contact your family."

"Interesting," Kurama said thoughfully. "I never knew that."

"Anyway," continued Koenma, "she is a normal human-"

"If she was NORMAL we wouldn't have a mission concerning her!!" Yusuke interrupted.

"She's cute," Kuwabara said earing a glare from Kurama.

"As I was saying," Koenma said angrily since he was being interrupted so much, "Hikari is a **special** human and has been. Unfortunately, without any intention to, she could destroy this whole world while existing in one all entirely her own."

Yusuke looked at Kurama and asked, "What kinds of crazy relatives do YOU have?"

"She's the only one I'm aware of at the moment," Kurama replied with a sweatdrop.

Koenma cleared his throat and said, "Your mission is to make sure she doesn't accidentally destroy the world."

"And just how are we supposed to do that?" Hiei asked annoyed.

"Make sure she isn't overwhelmed by any negative emotions, like anger, fear, anxiety," Koenma said.

"Are we supposed to do this forever?!" Yusuke asked angrily.

Koenma sighed at his ignorance and said monotonously, "No, Yusuke. Her ability to destroy the entire world is only temporary. Her powers need to be controlled right now since she is in a very vulnerable state. So you will have to train her also."

"Bring her where and train?!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"For now, Kurama I expect you to befriend her and get close to her since you are cousins after all. Make sure you become close because I expect her to be able to trust you enough to come on a trip with you that would take your entire summer break."

"Where will we be for this trip?" Kurama asked.

"Here," Koenma said calmly to everyone, "in the Spirit World."

Kuwabara grumbled and Yusuke started saying bad things about Hikari that earned a really scary look from Kurama. Sure, Kurama had not met her even, but he felt the need to defend his family.

Kurama said to no one in particular, "I guess I'll visit her at her house today. Do you happen to know where she lives, Koenma?"

Koenma pressed another on the remote and another image showed.

"WHAT THE- SHE LIVES IN THE APARTMENT RIGHT NEXT TO ME!!" Yusuke shouted.

"Really Yusuke, there's no need to shout," Kurama said. "We're all right here."

"The louder you are, the dumber you sound," Hiei added.

"In any case," Kurama said, "this'll make it easier to get to know her better since you two are neighbors."

"Psh! I'm not her cousin! You're the one that's related to her, so sorry buddy, I ain't gonna help you on that part," Yusuke said.

"As I said before Yusuke, it's very crucial that she not be extremely overwhelmed by any negative emotion for fear of her destroying your entire world."

"So what? Can't we just do what I did when I died? Like have someone kiss us on the lips and then poof, we're alive again?" Yusuke asked with a bored tone.

"No, Yusuke. It doesn't work that way when your world is destroyed, your bodies are obliterated, and everyone is in the Spirit World," Koenma explained. "Now, begin your case, Spirit Detectives."

All of them went back to the human realm and Yusuke immediately started complaining. "I don't why we have to babysit this person. I mean, we could just kill her and that would solve all our problems."

"Yusuke," Kurama said in a threatening tone, "that will not solve anything. We also are not supposed to kill humans unless they're evil."

Folding his arms behind his head Yusuke suggested, "Yeah? We could say it was an accident."

"Yusuke," Kurama warned with a voice that sounded all too like Youko Kurama's.

"Alright, alright," Yusuke gave in, "I was just kidding."

"So are we visiting her now?" Kuwabara asked.

"No, you fool, we're going to a doughnut store," Hiei said.

Kuwabara stopped walking and blinked. "We are? I thought we're headed to Kurama's cousins house. The doughnut shop's back there," Kuwabara said while gesturing behind him with his thumb.

"Hiei's just messing with you, Kuwabara," Kurama pointed out. "Let's keep going."

Arriving at the apartment complex, Yusuke said, "You guys go. I'll be sleeping."

Before Yusuke could leave, Kuwabara grabbed him in the collar. "What the hell Kuwabara?! Let me go!" Yusuke shouted.

"Koenma gave us a mission to do and he depends on us to fufill it," Kuwabara said and Yusuke looked at him with just a little respect, "and besides this is going to be a pain in the ass if not everyone gets along with her."

"What about Hiei?! Hiei hates everyone!!" Yusuke shouted as he got Kuwabara's hand off his green uniform.

"It's not like he's a little jerk or anything! At least he keeps quiet!" Kuwabara shouted back.

"Your talking is enough to show people how much of an idiot you are."

"Shut up pipsqueak, before I make you!" Kuwabara threatened as he turned to Hiei with a fist ready to punch, and probably miss, with.

"Big talk from an oaf who lost to a little kid with yo-yo's," Hiei retorted.

"Do you wanna go little man?! I'll step on you!" Kuwabara shouted.

Suddenly interrupting them, was the sound of the door opening. "Can I help you with something? I'd really appreciate it if you weren't yelling in front of my apartment," said a young lady.

"Sorry about all the yelling," Kurama apologized with a bow, "but could we speak with a Hikari Morino please?"

The young lady sized the red head up and down, along with all his friends. "Alright hold on," she said and closed the door for a moment. From inside the apartment they heard the young woman shout, "Hey Hikari! I think some friends from school came to visit you!"

They heard another voice shout back, "That's not true!! I don't even have any friends at school!!"

"Well then you've got some guys here to bully you at home!! Go see what they want!! I've got to get to work!!"

The door reopened and the young lady that had greeted them, opened the door and left without a word. After, an even younger lady showed up in the doorway with a frown on her face.

"Who are you?" Hikari asked without a trace of fear in her voice.

_Who the hell are these guys? Are they in a gang? Blue, green, and red uniforms… and a little kid in a black cloak. They'd certainly make yakuza-in-training. What the hell did I do to get the yakuza on my ass? I didn't do anything! Hey wait… the guy in the green… I kicked him in the balls earlier today. HOLY CRAP!! DON'T TELL ME THAT HE'S HERE TO GET REVENGE!!_

"Uhm, Hikari," said Kurama, "I came here since I found out from my parents that you are actually my cousin. My name is Shuichi Minamino. It's a pleasure to meet you. These are my friends, Kuwabara, the one in blue, Yusuke, the one in green, and Hiei, the one in black."

Hikari bowed finding herself in an awkward position and said, "N-nice to meet you too. Come on in."

Stepping aside to let them all in, she held the door open and as Yusuke passed her, he said in a low voice, "Don't you dare mention what happened earlier."

A smirk suddenly spread across Hikari's face and an evil plan formed in her head.

* * *

So how did you like it? Anyone still willing to read about Yu Yu Hakusho and the Spirit Detectives? Feedback about whether writing a Yu Yu Hakusho story is appreciated, although I do enjoy writing a story about Yu Yu Hakusho. Advice on the story? Feel free to send me some. Until next time! 


	2. The Family and Friends

Hello. This one get's pretty wacky, but it'll hopefully all make sense once the plot develops.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any Yu Yu Hakusho members. I do not own a certain group of people in here, but I do own their leader.

**Warning:** Rated for language and gang violence... or something like that.

* * *

A smirk suddenly spread across Hikari's face and an evil plan formed in her head. 

"Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable," Hikari said politely. "So is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

Kurama took a seat at the kitchen table, Hiei sat leaning against the wall, while Yusuke and Kuwabara sat on the couch in front of the television.

"So tell me a little about yourself," Kurama said as she grabbed and orange and a paper towel.

"I'm fourteen, just transferred from a new school, and am the new number one fighter at Sarayashiki Junior High!" Hikari said proudly as she peeled the orange at the kitchen table over the paper towel.

Turning around on the couch, Yusuke yelled, "I told you not to mention it!"

"Well too bad I did!" I shouted back.

"So anyway, who was that that answered the door?" Kurama asked quickly changing the subject before a war was about to start.

Hikari's face dimmed as she said, "That's my older sister."

Kurama's eyes widened and said, "My parents didn't tell me that you had an older sister."

"Don't trip," she said carelessly as she still continued to peel the orange. "She's not really my sister… well she is, but she's adopted. Her name is Oyuun."

"Doesn't sound Japanese," Kuwabara said furrowing his brow.

Splitting the orange in half, Hikari handed half to Kurama and said, "My parents adopted her while we were still in Mongolia."

"You lived in Mongolia?" Kuwabara asked without taking his eyes off the television.

"Born there," I said, "and lived there until I was about three."

"You miss it?" Kurama asked.

"Not really. I was too young to remember," she replied putting a little piece of orange in her mouth. "You guys want oranges? Or something?"

"No thanks," Kuwabara and Yusuke waved, their eyes still glued to the television.

"You want anything Shuichi?" she asked turning to look at him.

Declining, he raised a hand and said, "No thank you. The orange is plenty for me."

Nodding, she asked, "So… how old are you?"

"Sixteen," he replied. "Yusuke and Kuwabara are your age. Hiei is just a year older than you. I suggest not going to any of them for help on homework. They're not going to be able to help you much."

Eating another piece of the orange she said, "You assume that I even do homework, or that I need help."

Kurama laughed awkwardly and said, "Well you can never be to careful."

"I don't want to be rude," she said, "but why are you here?"

"Well my parents told me that you transferred here so I decided to meet you for the first time," he said. "It's always nice to meet family."

She looked at him with a dry expression. "Hah! Yeah right," she and Yusuke said at the same time. Both of them turn their heads to look at each other. They were completely creeped out and both of their faces showed it.

"Ah, yeah… get out of my apartment," she said while narrowing her eyes at him.

Standing up he said, "I'd be happy to."

Walking over to the door, he turned the knob and left. Looking back at Kurama Hikari asked, "Did he really just leave?"

Embarrassed, Kurama said, "Yes, well he lives right next door."

"No way!" she yelled. Storming out of her apartment and walked over to the one next door and knocked on it.

"We're not home!" a familiar and bored voice shouted.

Stomping back over to her apartment to where her cousin and his friends were. "That's so fucking coincidental it's not surprising," she said.

Checking the clock on the wall, Kurama said, "It's getting late. It's best all of us get going now."

All three of them stood up and headed for the door. Hikari opened the door for them and said, "It was nice having you over I guess… It was nice meet you Shuichi."

All of them left and then Hikari was left in the apartment alone. If she needed something to do she could just go over next door and torment Yusuke, but that was highly unlikely as of now.

_Still… it sucks being alone you know? Especially when everything's all quiet, it's like time stands still and you're the only one that exists, and while that's cool and all, at the same time you want to be the one that stops existing. But sometimes you lose no matter what. You could be the only one existing and no one's around, but you could also exist among everyone and yet it's like you don't exist. It's like that line Shakespeare said, "_To be or not to be. That is the question._" Even so…_

Suddenly there was a knock at her door. "Hey! Hikari!" came a familiar voice.

Hearing that jerk's voice just pissed her off. In a bad mood, she dragged her feet over to the front door and nearly ripped it off its hinges.

"What?" she asked in a bad mood.

He was taken aback by her bad aura surrounding her and said, "Uh, hey listen. About earlier, sorry about that. I didn't mean to doubt your fighting abilities. You're actually pretty awesome."

The change in his attitude surprised her and she was caught off guard. "U-uh… yeah. Sorry about kicking you in the balls like that. I know it was a cheap move, but I thought that if I didn't do it you'd kick my ass."

"I told you it wasn't my style to fight chicks," he pointed out.

"Well you didn't have to act so cocky!!" she raised her voice.

"Well you didn't have to act like an ass and curse when I just happened to bump into you!"

"You knocked me down and didn't even help me up!"

"You were the one that wasn't watching where you were were going!"

"Same goes for you!"

Both of them were now caught in a glaring contest. They heard Yusuke's apartment door open and a lady's voice say, "Hey, Yusuke! Oh! Who's that with you? It doesn't look like Keiko."

"It's not Keiko, ma. Just go back inside. I'll be there in a minute," Yusuke said.

Once they heard the door close, they dropped our glares and Hikari asked teasingly, "That your mom?"

"Yeah, it is," he said seriously. "Still… sorry about earlier… I'll see you around, Hikari."

"See ya, Yusuke," she said and closed the door. Hikari felt like a small weight was lifted off her shoulders. Though small, it made her feel a lot better. Maybe she was existing with others after all.

Hikari didn't know the reason why Yusuke came over though. Just a moment before he came over, he received a call on his compact mirror that he had gotten from Botan.

"What the hell do you want? Do you know how weird this is? My mom's home!" Yusuke whispered to the little Koenma on the screen.

"Hikari might have a breakdown. You need to prevent it," Koenma ordered.

"Can't Kurama do it? He's her cousin after all." Yusuke wanted to avoid making contact with Hikari at all costs.

"No, Yusuke. He might not make it to her in time or else no one in your world will exist and she'll suffer alone."

Yusuke sensed the urgency and closed the compact and rushed over as fast as he could. Then he knocked on her door.

Yusuke didn't really care about her before he had to rush out and knock on her apartment door, but now he felt as if he couldn't ignore her for the sake of the world.

"Man! I wish I just had to fight demons!" Yusuke complained as he laid his head down on his pillow.

The next day, it was a bright morning and not a cloud was in the sky, Hikari was just about to leave her apartment when her sister said, "If you're having friends over again Hikari, make sure you tell me beforehand. It felt totally weird to have your kiddy friends standing there like that."

"I already told you, I don't have friends. One of them is actually my cousin and one of them lives next door. So if any of those two come over it's not my fault," Hikari said in a bad mood as she left the apartment.

"Good morning Hikari."

Looking up with a frown on her face, she saw Kurama. "Morning Shuichi," she said walking right past him.

"Do you know if Yusuke left already?" he asked.

Before she answered, from Yusuke's apartment they heard someone yell, "HEY YUSUKE!! WAKE UP!! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE I WENT THROUGH TO GET YOU INTO THAT SCHOOL?! YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED AND GET THERE NOW!!"

"I guess that answers my question," Kurama said to himself mostly. As the front door to Yusuke's apartment opened, Kurama looked over to where his cousin was. She wasn't too far ahead and if Yusuke would just hurry, they could catch up with her.

"Damn stupid school…" Yusuke grumbled as he came out of his apartment and walked up to Kurama. "Yo."

"Come on. Let's get going," Kurama said and speed walked to meet up with Hikari.

Yusuke, obviously not a morning person or a fast paced walker, shouted, "Hey! Get back here!"

"Hurry up Yusuke!" Kurama shouted back.

Kurama caught up with Hikari at the stoplight. He smiled at her and asked, "You ready for school?"

Turning her head, she looked up at him as if there were a gigantic pimple on his forehead. She blinked for a few seconds and waited.

_Come on, Shuichi. You can get it. You're smart right? Come on…_

"I have no frickin' idea why you're coming to get me this morning Kur-" Yusuke was cut off by Kurama's hand covering his mouth. Pissed off that he was interrupted began to mumble through his hand. "Mfhmm muh muffh muffuhffmhhh?!"

Hikari watched curiously as her red headed cousin whispered something in Yusuke's ear. Noticing the light change, she walked across the street without either of them.

The two of them noticed that she was halfway across the street and as they were about to run over to her, a speeding car was heading her way.

"HIKARI!!"

It was like everything went in slow motion. She slowly turned around all the way to look back at them. The car came into view and was an inch away when suddenly there was a black blur and she was gone.

"HIKARI!!"

They looked around frantically for her.

"Holy fuck that was trippy," they heard a familiar voice say.

Looking **across **the street, they saw Hikari stumbling around there while she held her head.

They rushed across the street while the walk sign was blinking red.

"Hikari, are you alright?" Kurama asked as he helped her stand up straight.

She nodded and then put a hand to her mouth. "Just a little nauseous," she said.

Turning her around to someone's bush, they let her throw up. Spotting a vending machine nearby, Kurama gave Yusuke some money to buy a drink. Gargling it and then spitting into the same bush, Hikari felt a lot better.

"What- what happened?" she asked.

Kurama looked at Yusuke in a panic. "What do we tell her?" Kurama whispered.

Yusuke panicked as well and said, "Uh- uh… It was a miracle! You just jumped backwards in the nic of time to avoid getting hit by the car!"

Furious for such a lame excuse, Kurama glared at him and wished terrible things on Yusuke. Wiping some of the drink from her chin, she said, "Even I'm not stupid enough to believe that."

Shaking off Kurama's arm, she continued on her way to school. In all honesty, Hikari was scared on the inside.

_What the FUCK just happened?! I was just standing there looking at them and then that car came out of nowhere! Then there was this blur and then something grabbed me and put me on the friggin' sidewalk!! If I was saved like that in just an instant, who knows what else has happened to me!!_

Kurama and Yusuke stayed back for a while waiting, then Hiei appeared. "Was that you, Hiei?" Yusuke asked.

"No, it was Santa Claus you fool. How do you think he gets to all those houses in one night?" Hiei replied.

"It was a close one, Hiei," Kurama said.

"Koenma didn't expect you two to be fighting about what your human name is."

Casting a glance at Yusuke, Kurama said, "Yes, well thank you, either way. We better get going to school."

On the way to school, they looked around for Hikari thinking that she couldn't have gotten that far.

"She must be around here somewhere."

"She could've skipped. I ran into her in the halls yesterday and she had her bag with her," Yusuke pointed out.

"That's not good," Kurama said.

"What's not good?" came an ugly voice. Yusuke and Kurama both looked next to them and saw Kuwabara standing there.

Seeing as Kurama looked like he was worrying too much to answer, Yusuke said, "Hikari skipped out on school."

Blinking once, Kuwabara asked, "Why don't you just ask the pipsqueak to stalk her? If she runs into any trouble he can just help her out or something or come to get us."

Everything stopped. Both Kurama and Yusuke were wide-eyed. They looked to each other and back to Kuwabara. Was- was Kuwabara being **smart** for once?!

"What?" he asked cluelessly. "What did I say? What's wrong? Why won't you freakin' answer me?!"

He picked up Yusuke by his shirt and said, "Why you smilin' Urameshi?"

Yusuke let out a chuckle and said, "That's the smartest thing you've ever said ya big idiot."

So they got a hold of Hiei and he unwillingly went to go stalk Hikari from the trees and bushes once they found her.

Meanwhile, the little delinquent was playing pachinko with big sunglasses on hoping no one would recognize her. Although most people didn't know it since, Hikari was a smoker so in addition to her big sunglasses, she sported a lit cigarette in her mouth.

_I think I'll go play at the arcade after this cigarette burns out. At least I'm no chain smoker or anything, right? Then I'd look like I was forty instead of my young fourteen-year-young age._

She laughed to herself, finding her own joke terribly funny.

Leaving the pachinko place, Hikari made her way over to the arcade but not before checking how much money she had left. Before she could get there, there was a small interference that startled her and made her almost drop her cigarette from her mouth..

"Hey there, little girl, shouldn't you be in school?" said an older man. "What's that you got in your mouth? A cigarette? You shouldn't be doin' that. That's a bad habit. Right guys?"

Suddenly Hikari was surrounded by guys that were much taller than her. The guy that was talking plucked the cigarette out of her mouth and smoked it himself. She was pissed, but there was nothing she could do since it was the yakuza she was facing.

_Oh shit… This day sucks…_

"Those eyes," the leader said with amazement. "They look familiar. Hey, kid, glare at me for a second."

Frightened, she just widened her eyes.

_Is- is he being serious?! If I glare, he might just get pissed if I do it!_

Grabbing her by her chin, the yakuza member made her look at him. "You listen to me damn it. I wanna see that glare of yours."

At that point, she was more than happy to glare at him.

Meanwhile, Hiei was sitting in a tree, watching what was going on while listening to the bystanders.

"Oh that poor girl! She must be so frightened being confronted by the yakuza!"

"She's glaring at him! That can't be good!"

"That child is getting what she deserves! Being met by the yakuza for not going to school is surely good punishment."

The yakuza was staring into her glaring eyes for what seemed like years to Hikari. Suddenly, he let her go and said, "Alright. Let's get going."

"Boss!"

"Shut up. I said we're going. Leave the girl alone," he said.

_What?! Why is he… being so nice now after staring into my eyes? Are my eyes that gorgeous?! Psh, yeah right. That must be it though…_

Hikari was panicking despite her aloof way of thinking. Right when she was about to ask something, he answered her.

"Your brothers…" his voice trailed off.

At that point, she didn't care who the hell that guy was. Hikari grabbed him by the collar and punched him across the face. One of the other yakuza members pulled her away from him while another slapped her across the face.

"Don't touch her!" the yakuza leader shouted at them.

Hikari was crying and still tried to punch him some more but someone was still holding her back.

"Shut up! Don't you DARE mention them!! Don't you DARE mention my brothers!!" she cried.

* * *

Thank you to all who are reading this. Stay tuned for the next chapter. 


	3. Brothers and Yakuza

Yo. Here's Chapter 3!

**Disclaimer: **I own no one from Yu Yu Hakusho. I do own Hikari Morino and the boss.

**Warning: **Rated M for Language.

**Note:** There are hyphens (-) that show up in a name and it's just so I don't have to put a disclaimer up for that.

* * *

"Shut up! Don't you DARE mention them!! Don't you DARE mention my brothers!!" she cried. 

Hiei watched in amusement as she seemed helpless to them. The yakuza leader just looked at her in pity.

"Your brothers were born in America so they were given American names. Mattias and Dameon, right?" he said.

Hikari stopped crying and just sniffled. The sky looked like it was about to start storming, which was weird since it was sunny and cloudless moments before.

Meanwhile at school, Kurama was getting an uneasy feeling and wondered if Hiei was doing his job to keep Hikari sane. He looked out the window to see a few drops of rain fall.

"Yes, Mattias and Dameon, both great people. There was a huge gap in age between you all though, wasn't there?"

_There was a sixteen year difference between me and my brother Dameon, while there was a twenty year gap between me and Mattias. It wasn't intentional that our parents made us born so far apart, but our mother had a few miscarriages and some of the babies she was able to have ended up getting sick and died. Even though they told me when I was about four, I still remember that my brothers used to tell me that our parents didn't name me until the doctors were positive I was going to live. That's when they named me _Hikari, _which means "light" in Japanese. They adopted my sister after they had me to sort of help bridge the gap a little. That's when she and I went to Japan._

"If they were still alive, Dameon would be..." he thought for a moment and then gave a whistle, "thirty years old, which would make Mattias thirty-four. It's a shame they only lived until they were twenty-one and twenty-five."

"I told you to shut the fuck up!!" Hikari shrieked.

A yakuza member was about to go and hit her, but the boss of them interrupted them. "I said not to touch her!" he said. "Don't you want people remembering your two big- what did you call them- nii-samas?"

Hikari's eyes widened and she said, "Shut up!! Or at least quit talking as if you were the one who killed them!!"

The boss' face turned solemn and said, "Chill kid. Your big brothers were like my big brothers too."

She looked up at him in surprise.

"Come on. Don't look like no one was there at their funeral. I still remember what's on their gravestone. 'Killed on Duty,' it said. They used to look out for me since I was wet behind the ears and had just joined the yakuza, but there was a war that broke out in another country and your brothers had to go and help them. I bet you don't remember me kid, do you?"

Hikari was just scared and didn't want to die.

The boss laughed and said sadly, "No of course you wouldn't. Your nii-samas were too important to you to remember one of their friends. Well, before your big brothers went to war, they told me to check up on you every now and then. But then your sister didn't want to be involved with yakuza scum like us and your brothers so we couldn't play patty cake anymore."

_Okay. This is scary and all... but also extremely awkward and it's like he's a pedophile or something… This is especially scary since he was just being all yakuza-like earlier and now he's being all sentimental._

"Jin Yoshida. Does the name ring a bell?"

Hikari thought for a moment. She could remember a man that used to bring her toys and put on puppet shows, but then something more vividly came to mind.

"You didn't play patty cake with me!" she said surprising them all. "You just used to bake cakes! That's why I grew up chubby!"

Hiei, overhearing all of this, nearly fell out of the tree he was in.

Jin burst out laughing nearly in tears and all the other yakuza members were looking at him in surprise. They noticed that the sky was clear again and that the sky was shining.

He placed a hand on her hand said, "Let's keep that a secret, Hikari. I'll see ya around. We've got to get back to work."

They let her go and she wiped her eyes with her handkerchief. Watching them walk away, Hikari just stood there.

Suddenly, Jin just stopped, pointed at someone and yelled, "Hey! Where's my money?!"

_Well today's not so bad compared to when it started._

She then continued on her way to the arcade when she realized something.

_HEY!! HE STOLE MY CIGARETTE!!_

It was about lunchtime and Kurama was still feeling uneasy.

"What's up, Kur-"

"I told you already, my name is Shuichi, Yusuke."

"Right. So what's up, Shuichi?"

"Something tells me that something's wrong with Hikari…"

"Like she got jumped or something?" Kuwabara asked bluntly.

This had not occurred to Kurama that she could be put in danger even though Hiei was there. It was highly unlikely that Hiei would go out of his way to save a human, but he did save her from that car. Maybe death was an exception for the person that could destroy the world.

In any case, there **was** something wrong with Hikari.

"No more money…" she said to herself as she looked in her empty wallet. "I must've spent it all on _Time Travel._"

Bummed out, she checked her watch and saw that her sister had already left for her other job and so Hikari decided to go home and take a nap. Hiei tailed her all the way home. When she was inside, she did just as she planned and took a nap. Unfortunately her nap was too long.

"Hikari! Wake up!"

Hikari woke up and opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them.

"What are you doing home?! You're supposed to be in school!" her sister, Oyuun, scolded her.

Deciding to lie, Hikari said, "I felt sick so I came home."

Her sister sighed in exasperation and said, "You'll have to go to school sometime. You have your cousin and neighbor, go play with them."

"I'm fourteen, my cousin's sixteen, and his friend is fourteen. It's hardly considered playing anymore."

"Fine, hanging out! Whatever!" Oyuun left the room and went over to her own room.

Hikari just laid back down on her bed and stared up at her ceiling. She pushed back the bangs so it wouldn't cover her forehead. She heard light tapping at the window. Through the curtains she could tell it was already dark out.

Getting up and out of bed, she walked over to her window and opened the blinds. It had started to rain. She sat in front of the window watching the rain.

_I haven't thought about them in a while. It's not like I don't love them or anything, but it's just been so long. I remember that when my sister and I used to live at our grandmother's my brothers would occasionally take me, just me, and bring them over to where they lived just so we could spend time together. Our grandmother didn't mind since she knew that Mattias and Dameon were honest people even though they were in the yakuza._

_When I was four, I remember sitting in Dameon's lap as we watched television, when one of his friends scared me and then I started crying. Mattias got angry at their friend and Dameon had no idea what to do to get me to stop. One of their other friends then came up from behind Dameon, fish hooked his cheeks, and made him smile. I remember laughing so hard._

"O-nii-samas, I miss you," she said quietly to herself.

"Hey! Hikari! I'm going to work now! Make sure you eat and get to bed early!" Oyuun shouted as she left the apartment.

Hikari got up and changed into a pair of jeans, put on a white shirt, and then pulled on a hoodie. After shoving her keys in her pocket, Hikari walked to the front door, pulled on her shoes, and took an umbrella before leaving.

On her way out, she bumped into someone.

"Sorry about that," she muttered and tried to get away as soon as possible.

"Hikari, where are you going?"

Turning around, she saw Kurama there.

"No where," she replied and kept walking but at a quicker pace. "Don't follow me either."

The first stop Hikari made was at a grocery store, she bought fourteen ripe oranges and incense with money she got from her stash at home and then continued on her way.

Meanwhile, Kurama was with Hiei. "What has she been doing?" Kurama asked.

"Nothing really. She went to play pachinko, smoked a cigarette, met up with some of the yakuza, and then went to the arcade, where she blew most of her cash. She then went home and did the most exciting thing ever," Hiei said.

"And that was?"

"Take a nap."

"Do you have any idea where she's headed now?"

Hiei closed his eyes for a moment and then replied, "She's going to a cemetery."

"Cemetery?!" Kurama asked.

"She's visiting her older brothers."

"Hiei, could you-"

"Whatever," the spikey haired demon replied and disappeared.

It was raining harder now and Hikari was standing before two graves. Her umbrella in one hand and the oranges and incense in the other.

"Hi Mattias. Hi Dameon," she greeted in a quiet voice. "I brought you something."

Kneeling on the wet ground, Hikari put the plastic bag of oranges and incense on the ground. She put seven oranges on each gravestone and then lit the incense she had with the lighter that she was carrying.

Putting her hands together, she closed her eyes and prayed.

_Hi big brothers. It's been a while. I'm fourteen now, but I'm sure you know that already. I've really missed you guys all these years. It's been nine years since you guys died… since you went to war. I was in kindergarten and while you were gone, I asked our grandmother when you two would come back every single day. She would always smile sadly and tell me that you were coming home soon. I waited every single day for you guys to come home._

_Then one day she got a phone call. Sitting both Oyuun and myself down, she told us that you two died in the war. I started crying and wouldn't stop. Oyuun didn't even shed a tear. She told me that she didn't miss you two because she never really knew you. Oyuun said that you didn't matter in her life, but I guess that was how you meant it to be since you only took me to sleep over. I thought she was heartless. I was crying so much for days and eventually I got sick and grandma had to take me to the hospital._

_Anyway, I ran into Jin earlier today. Remember him? He told me that you guys told him to watch after me while you were in the war. While you guys were there, I always expected you to come back. I thought that death would never meet _my_ older brothers._

Silent tears were streaming down Hikari's cheeks. Her hands still in prayer and her eyes were still shut.

"Hikari," said a voice. "You'll catch more than a cold if you stay there."

With much difficultly, she said, "Just… just give me a minute."

Whoever was there didn't reply and let Hikari be. Rubbing her tears with the back of her hand, she stood up and saw the one named Hiei.

Sniffling, she asked, "How did you find me here?"

He didn't reply and just stared back at her.

"Did Shuichi ask you to follow me?" Still no reply. "You're a dumbass."

Walking right past him, Hiei said, "You're the one who is about to get sick from the rain."

"Shut up," she said. Hikari led the way back and Hiei followed loosely behind.

Feeling guilty that she was the only one with an umbrella, Hikari slowed her pace a bit for Hiei to catch up so that they could walk under the umbrella together.

_Wow. This is awkward. It's kinda weird to think this guy is a year older than me, and yet he's a midget. I've got at least five inches on him if you don't count his hair. What kind of gel does he use? I bet it's actually super glue. There's no way that his hair would still be sticking up like that after walking through the rain. Maybe it's like an afro or a bush._

Hikari pondered about this all the way back home. Little did she know, Hiei was reading her thoughts and did his best not to kill her.

When they arrived at her place, Hikari offered to let him stay and dry off, but he just walked away. Feeling offended, Hikari shouted at him as he left, "Fine!! I hope you're the one that catches the cold!!"

Then, she took a shower and changed into warmer clothes. Having nothing to do, she sat around and watched some television. During the middle of her show, there was a knock at her door. She waited until they knocked again before she got up.

_Man, it was just getting good. Who knows what Kyon will do now?_

Opening the door, she saw Yusuke.

"What is it?" she asked monotonously.

"You could be a little nicer," he said.

Sighing, she said, "Just get to the point. Why are you here?"

"I came earlier and wondered where you were. There's a movie playing later and a couple friends and I are gonna go."

"What's your point?"

"My point is, that I was wondering if you wanted to go with us?" he asked a little annoyed.

Hikari slowly looked to the ground and said, "It sounds like fun, but I think I should be left alone the rest of the day."

Yusuke blinked in confusion and raised and eyebrow.

"If Shuichi comes over, tell him that I don't feel like seeing him," she said. "I'll talk to you tomorrow or something. See ya, Yusuke."

She then closed the door and went over to the couch to lie down. All the while, Yusuke was banging on the door wondering what she was talking about.

"WOULD YOU QUIT BANGING ON THE DOOR AND YELLING IN FRONT OF MY APARTMENT YOU LITTLE DELINQUENT?!"

Hikari heard the front door open and heard her sister say, "Hikari, I think you've got an obsessed stalker on your hands. Hikari?"

Oyuun walked over the couch and looked at her. "Hey are you alright?" she asked and put a hand to her sister's forehead.

"Geeze, you're burning up!" she said and went to the kitchen to put a towel under some cold water. "Shit. I've got my other job to get to right now and grandma is in Canada so I can't call her. I'll tell that creepy neighbor boy to keep an eye on you."

Oyuun walked back over to the couch and put the towel on Hikari's forehead. "I'll go get you some blankets."

Going to Hikari's room, she gathered her blankets and carefully put them on her sister.

"I'll go next door now," she said as she tucked in her sister.

"Oyuun," Hikari said weakly, "don't impose on him. He's got a movie to go to later."

"Nonsense," she said. "I can't leave you here alone. There's no one to take care of you and he's the only one available unless you have your cousin's number."

Hikari shook her head and Oyuun said, "Alright then. I'm going next door."

Within moments, Yusuke was in their apartment with a friend.

"Please take care of her," Oyuun said and left.

Yusuke took a seat on the floor next to Hikari. "Hey," he said. "I brought a friend over to help. Her name's Keiko."

"Pleased to meet you," Keiko said.

Hikari tried to open her mouth to talk but she just ended up coughing. Yusuke turned to Keiko and said, "She's says that her name's Hikari and she's pleased to meet you too."

Keiko took a seat next to him on the floor and then asked, "What about the other guys? Won't they be pissed about not going to the movies?"

"No. They know what's up. They're coming over to help as well," he said looking at the television.

Hikari was still just barely conscious when Keiko went to get the door. She hadn't heard it knock though.

"Hey guys. We're glad you came over. Hikari has a bit of a fever. Come on in," Keiko said as she moved to the side to let Kurama, Kuwabara, and Hiei in.

"Why are we all here?" Hiei asked bitterly.

"Don't get your undies in a bunch squirt," Yusuke said.

"It was actually my idea that all of us come over," Kurama said.

"Why is that?" Hiei asked trying his best not to glare at the fox demon in human skin.

"Hikari is sick and so if we're all here, we can give her our support."

Kuwabara scratched his cheek and said in amazement, "Wow. I never knew that just standing here would make someone feel better."

"My mother said that if there are friends among you while your sick, your body will recognize this and get better faster," Kurama said with a smile.

"Cut the crap Kurama," Yusuke said. "We're all here just because of that stupid mission that Koenma assigned us to."

"I've told you multiple times already Yusuke. You call me Shuichi in front of regular humans," Kurama said in a loud whisper. "You shouldn't even mention the mission or Koenma around her."

"Who cares?" Yusuke said in exasperation. He gestured towards Hikari's body, which was covered in blankets and said, "She's most likely unconscious and anything she does hear, she probably thinks is just her being delusional."

"He does have a point Kurama," Kuwabara pointed out.

"Still, it's best not to take any chances."

They all sat around the living room watching television. Every now and then Kurama would look back at Hikari to see if she was okay. Sometimes her eyes were open and staring off into space, and the other times her eyes were closed and she was asleep.

At one point, they were flipping the channels looking for something to watch. Hikari was awake and eyes open. They passed over a certain channel and she immediately sat up, motioned for them to stop with her hands and nearly screamed, "STOP! Go back 3 channels!"

Yusuke, who had the remote looked at her strangely, but did as she ordered. Once Yusuke was on the right channel, Hikari took one of her blankets, draped it over her head and crawled over to sit in front of the television.

"Farty poop fart!" said a character from the show and Hikari gave a low giggle.

Keiko, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama all looked at each other. Hiei was busy sitting against the wall with his own thoughts.

"Does anyone have any idea what we're watching?" Kuwabara whispered back.

"ACTION BASTARD JUMP!" said the same character from the show.

"Honestly, I'd think you'd be the one to know this show, Kuwabara," Kurama admitted.

"Yeah, seriously."

"It's 'Crayon Sh-- Ch--'," Hiei said. The expression on his face showed he was rather disturbed.

Yusuke smiled in a smugly way, and he asked, "And how do you know that shrimp?"

Hiei simply glared at him and said telepathically to Yusuke, "I can kill you in your sleep, Yusuke. Don't think I won't either."

Yusuke got shivers down his spine and said trying to cover up his fear, "Let's get back to watching Buttboy on the screen guys."

Once the show was over, Hikari got up and brought her blanket back over to the couch she was sleeping on.

"Are you feeling better, Hikari?" her cousin asked her.

She smiled in a way that somehow disturbed him and said, "Much better. Thanks, Kurama."

Almost everyone gasped in shock and widened their eyes. The only exceptions to this were Hiei and Kuwabara. Hiei wasn't surprised one bit since it's not like Hikari wasn't going to find out Kurama's real name. Kuwabara on the other hand just didn't know what was going on.

Hikari smirked and Kurama asked, "What did you call me?"

"You heard me, Kurama. So is the name Shuichi just a fake one? Are you even really my cousin?" she asked bitterly. "Tell me about this mission you're all here for."

They all looked at each other uncertain whether or not they should tell her. Hikari was getting furious as they made her wait.

_Spit it out damn it. I won't hate you that much if you tell me the truth. Just tell me that you aren't pretending to care just so you can use me. I JUST WANT YOU ALL TO BE HONEST!!_

They all still debated amongst themselves whether or not they should tell her or not. Keiko looked at her watch and said, "I better go home. I'll see you guys tomorrow. I'll just let myself out."

Keiko left and Hikari was just glaring at Kurama, who looked down.

Seeing as Kurama wouldn't speak, Yusuke said, "He really is your cousin. We're not lying about that. His name really is Shuichi too. Shuichi is like one of those second names that parents give their child."

"And what about the mi-" Suddenly Hikari fell to the ground.

Kurama rushed over and checked to see if she was okay. He felt her forehead and said, "She's still got a fever. The shock of all of this must have drained the rest of her energy."

Picking her up, Kurama put her back on the couch and placed the blankets on top of her. Looking at the clock in Hikari's kitchen, Kurama said, "You guys should go home. It's getting late. I'll watch after her."

"Oh no. Shizuru's going to get so angry that I came home this late," Kuwabara said looking at the clock and then rushing to the front door to leave.

"My mom's probably out so I've got nothing to do besides watch T.V. and why go to my place when Hikari's got a bigger one than I do?" Yusuke replied.

Kurama gave a weak smile and then looked over to Hiei. "Are you staying too?"

Hiei didn't reply and just watched the television.

Kurama looked from the television to Hikari.

'I'm sorry, but we can't tell you everything,' Kurama thought to himself.

* * *

Be prepared for the next one when it comes out next time, which might not be for a while since I've got school. 


	4. Slip Out Little More Than Before

Hey. It's been a while. You can blame school for that. Here is the new chapter...

**Disclaimer: **Everyone, except Hikari Morino, belongs to Yoshiro Togashi.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for mature due to language and violence.

**Note:** There are hyphens (-) that show up in a name and it's just so I don't have to put a disclaimer up for that.

* * *

'I'm sorry, but we can't tell you everything,' Kurama thought to himself. 

Much later that night, Oyuun finally came back from work. She was surprised to see people still there.

"Oh my god! You're still here!" she said shocked. "Thank you so much for taking care of Hikari!"

When she was walking into the room to check up on Hikari, Hiei just got up and left. Yusuke had fallen asleep snoring on the floor, but Kurama was sitting close to Hikari just in case while reading a book.

Kurama stood up and placed the book down. "It was nothing," he said.

"I'm sorry. My name is Oyuun Morino. Nice to meet you. I'm Hikari's adopted sister," she said with a smile and a bow.

Kurama bowed and said, "My name is Shuichi Minamino. Nice to meet you too. I'm Hikari's cousin. The one sleeping on your floor is Yusuke and the one that just left is Hiei."

"Oh so you're Hikari's cousin. She's mentioned you and her creepy next door neighboor a few times."

"I was wondering, could you please tell me a little about yourself and Hikari?" he asked.

Oyuun gestured to the chair and said, "Of course. Please have a seat."

Kurama sat back down in the chair he was previously occupying and Oyuun sat on the floor.

"Well, even though I was the orphan, Hikari's been the outsider since we were little. Hikari was about three, that's when I was adopted into the family. I was already nine by that time. She had two older brothers named Mattias and Dameon. I'm not quite sure how old they were but I know they were around their twenties. I met them when Hikari and I were sent to our grandmother here in Japan."

"So they weren't living with you when you were in Mongolia?" Kurama asked curiously.

Oyuun shook her head. "Before our parents had moved to Mongolia, they lived with Hikari's brothers in Japan. From what I heard, Dameon and Mattias stayed there since they were already part of the yakuza. When I met them, I honestly didn't consider them my brothers. I didn't trust them because they were gang members. They used to visit often and take Hikari to sleep over. They asked me to come along as well, but I was scared of them. I ended up being scared of Hikari too, which is why I can be so cold to her sometimes."

"What made you cold towards her?"

"They taught her how to fight with different styles, which has actually saved me quite a few times."

Kurama's eyes widened.

"Hikari had grown up learning all different fighting styles like sumo, tae kwon do, kick boxing, karate, martial arts, and she's even learned how to fight using weapons, like pipes and bats," Oyuun said as she looked at her sister's sleeping face. "She qas quite good at it too. When Hikari fought she even mixed fighting styles together sometimes. As you can see, I'm a bit on the skrawny side. I used to be even smaller when I was fifteen and Hikari was nine. Hikari was just a little shorter than I was, but a lot more fit. I was picking her up from school one day when a few of her upperclassmen began to pick on me and began calling me things like 'Hun' and 'Mongrel the Mongol'. Hikari wasn't having a good day at school, so when she saw them pulling on my braids, she charged at them shouting 'DOSUKOI' at the top of her lungs."

Oyuun shook her head and laughed. "She wrestled one to the ground and punched him in the face a couple times until another one picked her up by the back of her shirt. She then round-house kicked him in the face and he dropped her. The third one got into a fighting pose and then came at Hikari throwing punches. I felt so useless as I watched her fight. My body was frail compared to her strong one. They dodged each others punches for a while until he landed one right in the jaw," Oyuun said sadly. "It sent her to the ground and she got a couple scrapes. As he was going for her, I stepped in front of her and told him not to go near her. He just threw me easily aside and I saw Hikari get up. She was furious. She ran at him, jumped in the air, and then kicked him in the chest. It was absolutely amazing. But fighting got her into a lot of trouble, which made her known as a delinquent, which is why I'm so hard on her. She values her fighting styles because it's what they taught her, which is all she really has left."

As Oyuun smiled fondly at Hikari, Kurama realized how important Hikari was to Oyuun. Looking back over to Kurama she asked, "Do you have any questions?"

"Yes. Why are your parents in Mongolia and why did they move there in the first place?"

Oyuun shrugged and said, "They never gave us a specific reason. They all said it was because of business. We never really questioned our parents once we left Mongolia."

Kurama thought to himself, 'Interesting. I wonder what would keep them in Mongolia of all places. Maybe I'll investigate further by asking Koenma the next time we see him. I should also ask him about it later.'

Kurama stood up and said, "Well it's getting late now. I'll just bring Yusuke over to his place and I'll be on my way."

"Oh, it's okay. Just leave him there. I'm sure his mom won't stress too much considering they live just next door."

Kurama walked to the door and said, "I'll just let myself out then. Good night."

Oyuun stood up and let him out. "Really, thank you again for taking care of Hikari. Good night."

Kurama walked out of the apartment and the door was closed behind him.

"Took you long enough," a voice from above said. Jumping down from the roof, Hiei stood next to his friend. "What took you?"

"I was gathering information about Hikari. There are things that Koenma hasn't told us about yet, and I'm just being prepared for what might come," Kurama answered. "Koenma hasn't told us why Hikari can destroy this world and create one all her own. I'm thinking it's connected to her parents. Is there anything that you've been able to find out Hiei?"

"Neither of them know anything about the intentions of their parents. Reading their minds for information is quite useless," Hiei pointed out.

"We'll just have to go to Koenma then. We'll all go tomorrow as a group since it's the weekend," Kurama replied as they stood and watched the rain pouring.

"What do we do about the girl?"

"I'll drop by later and see if she's feeling better. I'll cook her some soup."

"You know what I mean, Kurama."

"Yes. We'll have to keep her in the dark, unfortunately," he looked at his friend for reassurance, "at least until the summer break."

The next day, Hikari woke with a start to a loud noise. Sitting right up, she looked around the room.

…_Why am I in the living room? Last thing I remember was… well I don't know what the last thing I remember was. I know I was sick though… What the FUCK is that noise?!_

Looking at the floor, she saw Yusuke on her living room floor snoring. It sounded like something had got caught in his throat. Annoyed by his abnormal sounds, Hikari decided to wake him up. Grabbing the remote control, she prodded at his head.

"Hey," she whispered loudly. "Wake up. Stop snoring. Yusuke, wake up."

He just kept on snoring. Crawling off the couch, Hikari crouched down right next to him.

Whispering in a ghostly voice, she said, "Yusuke… this is Hanako, the bathroom ghost… I am here… to haunt your ass and never let it touch any toilet for the rest of your life!! Bhoot!!"

She watched Yusuke as a frown formed on his face. "No… don't do it. Please don't haunt my ass… It's the only one I've got. No! What bad timing… I've gotta take a dump," he mumbled in his sleep.

Hikari hoped to death that he was just sleep talking, but just in case if it wasn't just sleep talking, she decided to yell. "YUSUKE!! THERE IS A VOLCANIC ERUPTION GOING ON!! IF YOU DO NOT WAKE UP, IT WILL BE POMPEII ALL OVER AGAIN!!"

Yusuke shot straight up and looked around the room frantically. "VOLCANO WHERE?!" he said.

Hikari laughed and stood. "Oh, it was a false alarm. Stupid newsreporters," she chuckled.

Yusuke got up and scratched his head as the blankets he was lying under fell off of him. "So I guess I fell asleep last night while all of us were watching you…"

"What do you mean by 'all of us'?" she asked suspiciously.

"Ku- Kuwabara, Shuichi, Keiko, and even Hiei, were all keeping you company while you were sick," Yusuke said hoping she didn't catch the stutter.

"Whatever," she replied without a care. There was a knock on the door and Yusuke went to go answer it while Hikari prepared some food for them.

"Oh, hey, Shuichi," Yusuke greeted.

"Hey Yusuke," Kurama said. "We've got to get to work real quick. Where's Hikari?"

"In the kitchen!" she shouted.

Stepping into the apartment after taking off his shoes, Kurama went towards the kitchen. "Good morning," he greeted. "How are you feeling?"

Turning around to face him, Hikari smiled and said, "Great actually. Thanks for taking care of me last night, by the way."

"It was nothing," he replied and walked over and put a hand to her forehead. "It seems your fever has broken and actually gone done completely. That's good. Well I just dropped by to go get Yusuke. I'll visit again later. Bye."

"Bye, Shuichi," she said as she began cooking her scrambled eggs on the pan.

All four of them stood outside her apartment. Looking from one to another, they all nodded and headed to the Spirit World.

They stood in Koenma's office. Kurama had a determined look on his face while Kuwabara and Yusuke had no idea why they were there.

"He didn't call us," Kuwabara pointed out.

"Exactly, so why come here?" Yusuke asked as he shifted his weight from leg to leg.

"Just be patient Yusuke," Kurama said.

Koenma showed up and asked, "What can I do for you today?"

"I would like to know about Hikari's parents," Kurama stated getting straight to the point.

Koenma squinted and said, "I see. So that's what you came for."

Getting a file on his desk, he looked through it. "There's not much known about them honestly. They are both scientists, area of expertise unknown. They are residents in Mongolia… Her father is from Nagoya and her mother is from Kyoto. That's pretty much it besides the basic stuff like name, birthday, height and weight."

"Could you tell us about her brothers?" he asked feeling a little discouraged.

Flipping through the same file, Koenma said, "Her brothers? Ah, Mattias and Dameon, of course. Let's see, died at age of twenty-five and twenty-one, respectively. Lived in Japan before Hikari was born. Both of them were in the yakuza. Left Japan for another country, where they both died."

"Even I already found that out by now," Hiei spat.

"Don't you have anything else Koenma? Something that would help us?" Kurama desperately asked.

"Everything I revealed to you is all the documentation that we have been able to gather. We're quite busy you know. Some information cannot be revealed though, but there really isn't anything of relevance to reveal," Koenma shamefully admitted.

"Alright, so now why are we here? Koenma obviously doesn't know anything useful,' Yusuke said bluntly.

"We were here in case Koenma knew anything a little extra about Hikari, but everything we just heard is what we already know. I guess it's best if we go now," Kurama said defeatedly.

Meanwhile, Hikari was sitting at her brothers' graves. She was eating the oranges she gave them. Going to their graves was a way to relax her mind and feel more at ease. Right now, there was a feeling that was bugging her and made her feel sick.

Getting up and throwing away the orange peels in the trash, Hikari went back to her apartment.

The next couple of weeks, Hikari felt like there wasn't really a place where she would fit in, so more and more often she would seek isolation from everyone and head to her older brothers' graves. The only person that knew where the graves were located was Hiei, and from what she learned about Hiei by being around him, Hikari learned that Hiei wasn't much of a talker. Hikari would always go back there anytime things weren't going well, which was at least three times a day whether it was morning or night. Hiei would always accompany her anytime she went out of obligation. Hikari didn't care since they didn't even talk so nothing was awkward. If they talked then it'd be awkward.

One day when Hikari had finished up her visit at the graves, she decided to actually talk to Hiei. Looking up to the blue sky, she used her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. "The summer break is coming up," she said. "What are you going to be doing?"

Hiei's eyes widened and he stared at her wondering if she actually talked to him.

_What is it? Come on. Just answer. It's not that hard… then again, the last time I heard you talk was the time I got that fever._

Clearing his throat, Hiei said, "I'll be going on a trip the entire time."

Her eyes widened and she said in surprise, "Wow, Hiei. You certainly don't seem like the type to be going anywhere."

He glared at her but she just ignored it.

_Don't be glarin' at me shorty. I'll be forced to get a summer job or something and I'll still be living with my sister… This sucks ass._

Hikari pulled out a cigarette and a lighter and began smoking.

_Shit. I don't wanna be livin' with her while she got that night job…_

She walked out of the cemetery like she was good for nothing. Instead of going home, she headed towards some shady place just to sort out her thoughts and feelings as she walked. Hikari bobbed in and out of stores trying to find something to do. When she was exiting, she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Sorry," Hikari muttered as she tried to get away, but she was unfortunate because the guy grabbed her by the arm. Unfortunately for him though, Hikari was not in a good mood and before he could threaten her, she pulled her arm out of his grasp and then gave him a roundhouse kick to the face. "Don't you dare touch me again, you asshole!"

"Hey!"

"That's not cool!"

"Come back here!"

Someone placed a hand on Hikari's shoulder and she just snapped. She delivered a very powerful kick to the guy's chin, making him fall backwards and then she shoved her elbow into the stomach of someone that was trying to come up from behind her. There was one person left and Hikari saw that he was frozen in place. Slowly, she turned to face him and then began to run at him. Jumping in the air, she went feet first and gave the guy a flying kick to the chest. Getting up off the floor, she ran over to the guy she just kicked and took him by the collar and started punching him in the face.

"QUIT FUCKING WITH ME!!" she yelled at him. "I DON'T THINK YOU COMPREHEND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ME RIGHT NOW YOU FUCKTARD!!"

After beating that guy unconscious, Hikari went around and stepped on the other guys, making sure they broke a few ribs before leaving.

Returning home, Hikari just took a hot shower and then lay in bed.

"Another day gone," she said to herself. "One day closer to be free from that shitstorm."

She rolled around in bed until her face was buried in her pillow. Yelling into her pillow, Hikari also pounded her fists into her bed. "I hate this. I hate this. I hate this," was all she yelled.

Oyuun was still at her day job so no one else was able to answer the door besides her. Throwing the sheets off her bed, Hikari stomped over to the door and threw open the door.

"Can I help you?" she asked with a clearly pissed off voice.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" Kurama as he stood there with a smile.

She eyed him suspiciously and said, "No."

"Come on. It won't hurt you to walk with me will it?" he asked.

"Whatever," she muttered and pulled on her shoes and grabbed her keys before leaving. "Where are we going?"

"To the park I guess," he said.

Hikari cast him a side glance and asked, "Hey, Shuichi, why are you so happy all the time?"

He looked at her in surprise and asked, "What do you mean? I'm not happy all the time am I?"

"You certainly seem like you are. I mean, you're always smiling and stuff."

"I guess I'm just used to smiling then."

Hikari stopped walking and stared at Kurama. "You're like a Ba---- doll."

He stared at her with wide eyes and then she started walking without him.

They did a couple laps around the park. All the while, Kurama asked her questions hoping that Hikari would be calm after getting things off her chest.

"So why did you and your sister move here?"

"We needed a new place to live in since our other apartment what a total shithole," Hikari replied bluntly.

"Is that so?" he said. "What does your sister do for a living?"

"Her day job is working at a register at the local supermarket."

"She has a night job too?"

"Yeah, but I'd prefer not telling you what that is," Hikari said as she suddenly felt a little nauseous.

"Is it that terrible?"

"To me? Yes. I'd prefer not to live with her while she has her night job."

"I see," Kurama said thoughtfully. "Well, once school takes its summer break, how would you like to go on a trip?"

_A trip during the summer break? Didn't Hiei mention something like that? Is everyone going on this trip or something? They're lucky._

"Where would we be going?" she asked calmly at the thought of getting away from her current lifestyle.

"We'll be staying at a friend's place. It's sort of in the mountain area, I guess you'd say."

"When I was with Hiei earlier, he mentioned going on a trip for the entire summer break. Are we talking about the same trip?"

Kurama blinked in surprise and said in amazement, "Hiei said that? Well, yes actually. Kuwabara and Yusuke will be joining us as well."

"Great that's just what I need," she said in a bad mood, "two fucking idiots to ruin it."

Kurama chuckled and said, "They're not as bad as they seem, Hikari. They're good guys on the inside."

"I certainly hope I don't spend that much time with them to find that out," she said with a little sadness in her voice.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"I'd rather have no attachments to anyone in case anything happens."

They went another lap around the park until it had gotten so dark that the streetlights had turned on. Kurama walked her back home before it was too late in the night.

"Thanks, Shuichi," Hikari said quietly as a pink tint rose from her cheeks.

Smiling, Kurama replied, "It was nothing. Good night Hikari."

"Night," she replied and closed the door.

Kurama stood outside a while in the brisk night air and listened to Hikari's footsteps as she moved around her apartment. After sighing, he went next door to Yusuke's.

"Did you convince her to go?" Yusuke asked first thing when Kurama walked inside.

"We didn't really come to a conclusion. Hiei, based on what you've gathered, what do you think she'll choose?" Kurama asked looking at the demon clad in all black.

"She's highly likely to choose the trip over staying with her sister the entire summer. She seems to hate it in school and at home," Hiei stated.

"Do you happen to know what Oyuun's night job is?" Kurama asked.

Hiei stared for a moment before his face contorted and he mumbled, "I'd really rather not say…"

"It must be pretty bad if even shorty ain't admittin' whatever the hell it is," Kuwabara said.

* * *

What do you think? 


	5. To Be Alone Or Not To Be Alone

It's kinda weird I have the fifth chapter, but it doesn't matter! This just means one new chapter!!

**Warning: **The following is rated M for mature due to language and violence.

**Disclaimer: **Hikari's mine. That's all.

**Note: **Anything in _italics _is always Hikari thinking.

* * *

"So where are we going again, Shuichi?" Hikari asked with a small yawn. It was either very early in the morning or very late in the night, but Hikari was tired either way. 

"Some place far away from the city, and surrounded by trees and grassy fields. There's also a lake nearby too," Kurama said as Yusuke and Kuwabara loaded their van with their entire luggage.

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she looked up at her cousin and asked, "How much longer are they going to take? I wanna sleep in the van."

"They won't take long. Just be patient, Hikari," Kurama said in a happy tone.

Hikari looked at him as if all his long red hair had fallen out and he suddenly had a shiny bald head.

_What kind of fuckin' nut job am _I_ related to?!_

Taking a look at her watch, Hikari saw that it was two-thirty in the morning. She cast her cousin a look of bewilderment.

_Shit, does he have hangers in his mouth?! He's so fucking HAPPY all the damn time... It's impossible. His smile is starting to sicken me. Ehh..._

Hikari let out a big yawn and looked back at Yusuke and Kuwabara who were still loading things into the van. She opened her mouth wide to yell at them, but a yawn thwarted it.

Once she was finished yawning, she opened her mouth wide again and said, "Hey... Hurry up... I'm sleepy..."

After what seemed like a long while to Hikari, Yusuke and Kuwabara had finally gotten all the bags loaded. Hikari got into the backseat and immediately fell asleep.

Kurama, who was driving, looked back at her and Hiei said, "Well that was easy enough."

It didn't take them long to get to Spirit World. It actually took them only a few minutes. Seeing as it was still early morning, Kurama didn't want to wake Hikari and so he carried her up to the room she was to stay in.

After carefully setting Hikari on the bed, Kurama left to go help the others with unpacking. He stood on the green grass with the other guys as they watched ogres unpack all their things. When the ogres were nearly done bringing every luggage bag into the very large house that resembled a palace, they heard a scream.

"WHAT- WHAT THE HELL?! SHUICHI!! YUSUKE!! HIEI!! UHH- NOT YOU KUWABARA!! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!" Hikari yelled.

They all looked to one another with confused expressions as they heard shouts, loud footsteps, punches, and kicks. Hikari was confused too.

_What the hell are these things?! Blue skin, a horn, and loincloths!! NO DON'T COME NEAR ME!!_

She kicked one in the chest making it fall backwards. She was running around the place.

_Where the fuck am I?! If I die getting lost in this place, I will haunt Shuichi in the afterlife. WHERE THE HELL DO THESE THINGS KEEP COMING FROM?!_

"QUIT FOLLOWING ME!!" she shouted as she ran away from a whole flock of ogres.

_WHY ARE THERE PEOPLE DRESSED LIKE THAT CHASING ME?! They look like… no that can't be it. There's no way ogres and stuff exist. AH!! JUST KEEP THEM THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!!_

Hikari was met with a dead end and all of them cornered her. There was only a small side table with a vase full of assorted flowers on top of it.

_Shit. I can't fight them all. They might stab me with their horns… Wait a second… don't ogres usually have clubs or something? They'll probably use their horns since they don't have their clubs with them._

The ogres began to slowly close in on her. Hikari began to frantically stop them with hand motions.

_Shit. This isn't working!! I gotta come up with something quick!!_

She looked around, only to further realize that she was at a dead end with only a small side table, and some flowers in a vase. Picking up the vase, she threw it at them, followed by the small table. Hikari then jumped from wall to wall and stayed up in the corner looking down at all of them. She just stayed there in that corner, waiting for someone to come get her.

_Shit… come on!! Someone get over here and save me!!_

Apart from the shuffling of the ogres, Hikari heard them mumble among themselves, but then there was something else. It sounded like clicking on the floor. The sound echoed everywhere. Then she saw a red head make its way through the blue bodied ogres. Once Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were right below Hikari, they all looked around in circles.

"Well, where the hell is she?" Yusuke asked.

"I'm up here you idiots!!" Hikari said in a panic. "Now tell me that those are just blue-skinned men with costumes on and not ogres!!"

Kurama looked uncertain for a moment and then said, "Of course they're just costumes. Can you come down now Hikari?"

She frowned and said, "No. Not until those ogres get the hell away from me."

Kurama and Yusuke looked at all of them and waited for them to disperse. Once they did, Hikari jumped down from the ceiling and landed on her feet. Standing up straight, Hikari stared down her cousin.

"Where the hell am I? I don't want any bull shit lies. Tell me the truth now," she demanded.

Kurama scratched his cheek and said nervously, "Well, you see…"

"This is the longest fucking story that I never wanna tell again," Yusuke said.

"Maybe Koenma should tell her," Kuwabara said, "that way we won't have to."

They were all gathered in Koenma's office and Hikari was strapped down in one of the chairs to keep from lashing out in anger.

"What the hell is going on?! You bring me to a baby that has a pacifier in its mouth?! What kind of joke is this?!" Hikari shouted as she struggled in the rope.

"Please calm down, Hikari," Koenma spoke.

"What the fuck was that?" Hikari said as she looked around the room. "Who just said that?"

"That was me, and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't talk about me like that."

Hikari looked at the baby in amazement. "What the FUCK?! This baby can talk!! Demon baby!!" she shouted and put her hands together. "Nau-Maku-San-Man-Da, Bazara-Dan-Kan," she chanted over and over again.

"Stop saying Buddhist chants! I'm not a demon baby!" Koenma shouted as he waved his tiny fist around and around.

This just made Hikari chant even louder. "Nau maku sanmanda bazara dan sendan makaroshada sowata yaunatarta kanma…"

Yusuke looked at Kurama and said, "At least she knows her Buddhist chants."

"Yes, they're not bad. I don't think they do anything for her though," Kurama said as he watched her cousin shout the chants angrily.

Koenma got down from his desk and stood in front of Hikari. "Na-na-nau… AH GET AWAY FROM ME!!" Hikari yelled and leaned back into the chair. The chair ended up tilting backwards so that it fell and Hikari was now stuck on her back. "Get me away from that demon baby!!"

Kuwabara and Yusuke helped to pick her up. When the chair was upright, Kurama held her by the shoulders and said very seriously, "Hikari, you have to calm down right now. You won't understand anything unless you're calm. The baby's name is Koenma, and he's not really a baby. He will turn into a teenager now since you can't seem to stay calm while he is a baby. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Hikari nodded and took deep breaths to calm herself. Once Kurama was sure she was calm, he moved aside and let Koenma give a general explanation of the situation she was in. When he was done, Hikari had stopped blinking and was open mouthed.

Yusuke waved his hand in front of her face and still she didn't blink.

"Hey, Hikari," he said and then began to snap his fingers.

She seemed to finally snap back to reality and she turned to look at Yusuke with blank eyes. Shuichi untied her from the chair and she would've fallen on the floor if Yusuke hadn't caught her.

Yusuke looked up at Kurama unsure of what to do.

"Let's bring Hikari to her room. I'll sit at her bedside until she wakes up," Kurama said.

Yusuke hoisted Hikari on his shoulder and carried her through the halls as he walked with Kurama to Hikari's room.

As they walked through the halls, something was on Yusuke's mind.

"Hey Kurama," Yusuke said. "Why are you so worried about Hikari and willing to be there for her when she needs someone? You just met the girl not long ago."

"That's true Yusuke, but she is my cousin, no doubt. She doesn't enjoy life at home so I try to make it better by just being there for her, and although she doesn't know it yet, Hikari can destroy the world we exist in. I don't know about you, Yusuke, but even I have grown quite fond of this place. And if she did destroy this world," Kurama paused to open Hikari's door, "Hikari would be in a world she created living all by herself while we would all be here."

Kurama pulled back the sheets of Hikari's bed and Yusuke set her down so Kurama could pull the sheets back over her.

Yusuke head towards the desk in the far corner and sat backwards in the chair. Kurama first grabbed a random book off the bookshelf that was located by the desk and then sat down in a small couch next to Hikari's bed.

_...Something's wrong..._

Hikari's eyes opened quickly and she quickly took in air. She looked at the ceiling a moment before sitting up. The silence in the room is what had woken her up.

"What the-?" Yusuke said with a lifted brow.

"Where am I? What time is it?" Hikari said as she tried to look through the glass balcony doors to see how dark it was outside from where she was sitting.

Kurama looked at the clock on the wall and then put his book down. "It seems as if it's almost time for dinner. Let's get going," he said as he stood up.

"Hey wait!" Hikari said. "What just happened?!"

Kurama could hear the desperation in her voice, but he instinctively knew that if he didn't get Hikari to the dinner table, then she wouldn't eat. In a serious voice he said, "We will discuss it after dinner. Let's go, Hikari."

Looking at Yusuke, Hikari pleaded with her eyes that he tell her what happened.

"Uhh..." he said nervously, "Let's go and do what he said. You'll find out afterward. C'mon."

She watched them exist and then she yelled, "What the hell?! This happened when I had that fever too!! You guys just won't tell me anything!! How the hell am I supposed to trust you when you won't even tell me the simple things?!"

Throwing the blankets off of her, Hikari headed for the balcony doors and threw them open. She ran to the railing and jumped over it. Thankfully, she was only on the second floor so her landing wasn't that bad.

Them not telling her that she had simply passed out was one of the worst things they could've done. Hikari was running through a forest filled with all sorts of demons. The only thing she could rely on was her own physical strength since the Buddhist chants couldn't help her unless she had prayer beads or talismans, but she could probably handle herself since she was pissed off.

Hikari kept running deeper and deeper into the forest not wanting to be found by anyone.

...My life... SUCKS!!

Hikari delivered a drop kick to some demon that got in her way of running. When she got up, running wasn't her concern anymore. Her new concern was beating up this demon that had unfortunately got her in way.

Hikari kicked and stepped on the demon over and over again. "Don't treat me like a fucking kid!" Hikari shouted angrily as the beat down continued. "I ain't five!!"

Hikari's thoughts drifted off to the day her brothers left for war. They were at the door kneeling in front of her as she sniffled and wiped her tears.

"Don't be such a baby," Mattias joked as she ruffled her hair.

She pushed his hand off her head and frowned at him. "I'm not a baby!!"

"I'm not so sure about that," Dameon said to her as he looked at the little stuffed wolf she was holding onto.

She pouted and said, "It's from the trip we went on!! I can't just throw him away!!"

"You're still a baby then," Dameon said and placed a hand on her head, "but when we come back, we'll see how much you've grown from being a baby."

Her eyes glittered up at them and she gave a small nod. They both gave her a final hug and kiss on the head before standing up to leave.

Her thoughts were brought back to reality when she had seen the demon try to get away from her.

"You were supposed to come back after the war!!" Hikari shouted as tears came streaming down her cheeks. "You were supposed to see how much I grew since I was a baby!! You were supposed to see how much I grew since you guys left me!!"

Hikari had stopped once she had kicked the demon to death and there was blood on her shoes. She was breathing heavily as she dropped to her knees. Hikari just sat there until she could catch her breath. After a couple moments, she got up slowly and continued to run farther into the forest.

Back at Koenma's place, Kurama was a wreck. He paced around Hikari's assigned room and lectured himself on how Hikari was different compared to everyone else. He just hoped that she was sad and that she wasn't anywhere close to destroying the world.

Hiei walked into the room and Kurama quickly grabbed him by the shoulders. "Hiei," Kurama said, "I need you to use your Jagan eye and search for Hikari."

"…She's running deeper and deeper into the forest," Hiei said.

Letting go of his long-time friend, Kurama bit his thumb as he thought out loud. "This isn't good. I'm sure she has already encountered a demon by now. The deeper she gets, the stronger the demons," Kurama said with his voice full of concern. "Hiei, you're the quickest one out of all of us and you have the Jagan eye to guide you to her. Could you please save Hikari?"

Hiei shifted his weight onto one leg. "What am I to do about bringing her back? For a girl, she's plenty taller than me," Hiei said using anything to get him out of it. "She'll break my back if I give her a piggy back ride.

Kurama tried to hide his anger with a smile as he said, "Carry her over your shoulder, or bridal style, I'm sure you'll figure something out."

Hiei didn't say anything as he jumped from the same balcony Hikari had leapt from just moments ago. As he ran, he used his Jagan eye to try and find out where she was and what she was doing. His eyes then widened in shock.

Hikari had gotten into the deepest part of the forest. An enormous demon, the size of the tallest trees in the forest with claws the size of chainsaws, had spotted her. Knowing she was no match, Hikari tried to get away as fast as possible.

_What the hell did I get myself into by going on this stupid trip?! Is everyday going to be like this?! AH!! Sh-shit… It-it got me in the back… I've gotta hide somewhere._

Lucky for Hikari, the demon was a bit slow at catching her due to it had to duck to avoid hitting branches. Once Hikari was a good distance away, she climbed to the very top of a tree. Above all the trees, Hikari could see Koenma's place and how far she was from it. From below, Hikari could hear the demon stomping around on the ground.

Hikari carefully jumped from treetop to treetop with the demon following her from below. In her injured state, it was hard to dodge the demon's attacks when he randomly struck the treetops. She got hit a couple of times as she tried to get it to run in a circle.

_Crap… I know I'm gonna fall anytime now… AGH!! Damn it!! It got me in the leg. This isn't good. I just hope I'll land somewhere safe. I hope my plan works._

Hikari received a blow to the back making her stumble and then fall through the trees. The demon was too late in realizing that Hikari had fallen and too late to see where she had landed. She was lucky to land in a regular bush because nearby were some rose bushes.

Hiei wasn't too far away. He was alarmed when Hikari was knocked out though. She could've just been killed for all he knew. Normally, Hiei would have access to a person's mind even if they were unconscious.

As he got closer to where she was, the air began to strongly smell of blood. Once Hiei got to where the smell was the strongest, Hiei looked around for any sign of Hikari. Looking up at the trees, he saw a lot of broken branches in one tree and followed it downward to a bush.

Hiei slowly walked over to it as he made sure there weren't any other demons nearby. He parted the bush and sure enough, Hikari was in it and badly injured and bloodied up. Carefully picking her up, Hiei rushed her back to Koenma's place.

And again, Kurama was at Hikari's bedside. He held her hand tightly as if she were to disappear and leave in a second.

At one point, Yusuke had come in the room to check up on Kurama and Hikari. He had expected to see Kurama reading a book calmly while Hikari was in a peaceful sleep. What he saw was much different than the expected. Kurama was clutching her hand as he slept sitting in a chair while his head rested on the bed. Moving his gaze over to Hikari, Yusuke saw that she was all bandaged up and her facial expression was far from peaceful. Hikari kept furrowing her brows and clenching her teeth as she slightly moved in her sleep.

Taking pity on the two of them, Yusuke decided to give Kurama a break. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. Kurama's green eyes fluttered open and he sat up.

"Hey buddy," Yusuke said in a quiet voice, "you go get some sleep. I'll watch after Hikari."

Kurama stood while still holding his cousin's hand and gave her one last look before turning and nodding to Yusuke. Yusuke sat in Kurama's seat and gently held Hikari's hand while gently rubbing it with his thumb.

"Damn Hikari," he said. "The number one fighter in Sarayashiki is supposed to keep fighting. Coming up with a strategy isn't supposed to be a strong point. You should've stuck to your instincts and ran back here. We could've killed that thing that did this to you."

Yusuke sighed and said, "You don't have to be alone Hikari."

* * *

Yay. The fifth chapter. 


	6. No One is Worthless

Hello. I hope I'm being consistant with this series and updating soon enough for those who read. Thank you to all the people who have been reading this.

**Warning: **This is rated M as always for language and violence.

**Note: **_Italics _Hikari's thoughts. Hyphens (-) are used to censor the names of animes and games.

**Disclaimer: **I own Hikari and her family (Mattias, Dameon, Oyuun, etc...).

Please enjoy!

* * *

With medical help from Koenma, Hikari was healed in a short matter of time. Yusuke was lying down nearby on the couch looking up at the ceiling. 

"...I guess I'm alive then… that's good I suppose," Hikari said with a raspy voice.

Yusuke sat up in shock and looked at Hikari. "Hey, you could kill a guy surprising him like that ya know," he said as he leaned back down. "How ya feelin'?"

"Fine," she said in amazement. "It's like I wasn't attacked at all. How?"

"Koenma brought in some people to heal you," he said.

Hikari looked at the back of her hands and her legs to see that any cuts and gashes made on her body were completely gone. "So I guess this spiritual shit is real then, huh?" she asked.

"Hey, are you Shintoist or Buddhist?" Yusuke asked curiously.

"Both," she replied. He sat up and looked at her with a confused expression. Before he could ask the question, Hikari answered it. "I grew up influenced with both. It's not like I'm one or the other, I'm just both."

"Back in the human world, were you ever able to see things like ghosts?"

Hikari looked down and said, "Not really. I think I can kinda sense them when they're around since I start to feel like I'm being watched and I get a little freaked out. Other than that, no."

Yusuke's eyes widened and he asked, "You serious?"

She gave a small nod and said, "Yeah. What's it like?"

He raised an eyebrow and said, "It's freaky at first, but when you get used to it, it's kind of annoying since there are just so many of them."

Hikari looked down at her hands in her lap and said, "I see. Yusuke, do you think you could develop the ability to see ghosts?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said while rubbing his chin. "I was able to see them after I died and came back to life. Kuwabara could begin to sense them too and then see them clearly after a while. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to also if you give it some time."

She gave him a weak smile and then he got up. "I'll go and get you some food. I'll make Hiei keep you company until you come back."

Hikari raised a brow and asked, "Why? It's not like Hiei talks."

"Just for the company, missy. Nobody wants you runnin' off again and that's the last thing we all need," he said as he got up and left. Before his entire figure was out the door, he stuck his head back in the room and yelled, "Don't you go anywhere or we're hunting your ass down!!"

Yusuke walked out of the room and within moments, Hiei entered. She gave him a small smile before looking around the room. It was spacey. Hikari thought it was kind of interesting since it was a Western styled room, not Japanese, which is what she was accustomed to. She looked at the dresser, which was next to the bookcase. It had a television on it and a PS2 next to it.

Hikari got up and looked in the dresser to see if there were any games. The first drawer was the Jackpot. There was Eur--- 7, Yak---, Sam---- Cham----, Nar---, Ful------ Alc------, and a whole bunch of other anime based ones. Hikari nearly had a heart-attack, literally. Her chest started hurting as she nearly hyperventilated.

Hiei just looked at her weirdly. She held some games in her hand and scanned the rest of the video game titles. It was hard deciding which one to play. Instead of deciding just the one game to play, Hikari made a stack on top of the television of the video games she wanted to play in the order she wanted to play them.

After making sure that there was a memory card, Hikari connected the controller and played from the foot of the bed. She was playing intently and completely committed when the door opened.

"Hey," Yusuke scolded, "you shouldn't be playin' video games while you're still restin'."

He put the tray of food he was holding in the empty spot next to Hiei, who had grabbed a book sometime during the game play.

Yusuke then stomped over to the game console and switched it off. Hikari was wide eyed and open mouthed. The controller fell from hands and bounced off the bed onto the floor. Slowly, her head turned to Yusuke.

"HEY!!" she shrieked. "I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO SAVE YET YOU JACKASS!! DO YOU KNOW HOW FAR I FUCKING WAS IN THAT GAME?! NOW I HAVE TO START IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!"

"You can play at home. Playin' video games ain't why we're here," he said.

"I CAN'T PLAY AT HOME YOU FUCKING DUMBASS!! I DON'T HAVE ANY VIDEO GAMES AT HOME!! ALL I HAVE IS A STUPID TOMO----- THAT DIED!!" she yelled crazily still in disbelief that he had actually turned off the game.

"Well... then... you've got all summer!" Yusuke said.

_That's his best excuse? Fine. Whatever. I'll play along. So what food did he bring me?_

Hikari scooted backwards so that her back was on the pillows and Yusuke put the tray over her lap. Hikari stared at it.

"What is it?" she asked.

Yusuke scratched his head and said, "I dunno. I went to Koenma and told him that you needed some food and then he got all excited and brought this."

She looked at her food in disgust and then looked back at Yusuke with a weary look. "Could you find out what it is for me?" she asked.

"Can't you just eat it?" he asked obviously annoyed.

"What if I'm allergic to something that's in here?! I could have an allergic reaction and die!"

"This is the perfect place for that..." he muttered under his breath.

"JUST GO AND GET KOENMA!!"

Within moments, Yusuke came back with Koenma, who was looking very happy.

"Yeahh, what is this?" Hikari asked while pointing at the now bubbling creation.

"It's my very own Mongolian dish that I've been practicing," he said happily while Hikari just looked at him in slight repulsion. "It is yak and camel meat cooked in Kumis."

"It certainly looks like yack," she said making a pun of the word. Looking up at the teenage guy with a pacifier in his mouth, she said bluntly, "Dude you've got some serious problems cooking this. I may be from Mongolia, but geeze, it's not like all of it tastes good together."

Hikari was stirring the concoction when suddenly it tugged on the spoon and refused to let it go, much like the properties of quicksand. Pulling hard enough, she finally got the spoon out and it was half devoured by the compound.

"That is definitely not just camel, yak, and Kumis in there," she stated and prodded at it with the half destroyed spoon.

The "food" gurgled and a sort of growling came from it. Her eyes widened in shock and then a gas bubble came up and exploded which smelled horrible and nearly knocked her out. She held her nose and continued to poke at it like it were a science project.

After about a minute of poking, Hiei said, "It's not going to do-"

Hikari gasped as it got hold of her spoon and feasted on the hunk of metal. Hikari didn't trust whatever was in the bowl sitting before her. She put her hands together and began chanting.

"On kirikiri bazara bajiri hora mandamanda un hatta," she said to purify the substance in her bowl while creating a barrier to protect herself from it. Even though she knew it was useless, it didn't hurt to try.

Then, a small purple smoke rose up from the bowl. Hikari freaked out and backed away. "What the hell just happened?!" she asked.

"Looks like there was a cursed soul in that bowl," Koenma said not sounding the least surprised.

She looked at him in disbelief. Pointing to the previously hazardous bowl and said, "You could be arrested for attempted murder! Ew, trying to make me eat a soul... If I ate it, it might've killed me."

"It's not like you'd know what a soul tastes like," Yusuke pointed out.

Hikari put on a blank face and said, "Yes, I do. I order chickens whole, but all I eat is their soul. It tastes delicious."

Chills went down Yusuke's spine. "You're not serious are you?" he asked.

She moved so that her bangs covered her eyes and Hikari smiled in this really weird way that just creeped him out and let out a low giggle.

"Oh knock it off you two," Koenma said. "She just told you that she can't see spirits Yusuke. I doubt she can see the souls of chickens."

Hikari let out another low giggle. Koenma snapped his fingers and another ogre came in with a tray of better looking food. They switched the trays, but Hikari still looked at it with uncertainty.

"I can assure you that one doesn't have a soul in it," Koenma said.

The expression on her face showed that it was still full of disgust. "What if that ogre spit in it?" she asked while looking down at her bowl of chicken ramen.

Koenma was flabbergasted! "What would make one of my loyal ogres spit in your ramen?!"

Shrugging she said, "They secretly might not like me or you. For all I know, this could be poisoned."

Yusuke picked up the chopsticks and force-fed Hikari. "JUST EAT IT!! IT AIN'T AN ISSUE IF YOU DIE HERE!!"

Hikari resisted as she tried to push away his arms. "I'D RATHER NOT HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT ON MY RECORD!! IT'S NOT A CONTEST!!"

Koenma had to threaten them so they would shut up. Hikari ate her food in silence.

After Koenma left, it was just Hikari, Yusuke, and Hiei in her room. Yusuke was just lying at the foot of her bed, looking up at the ceiling. Hiei was still there only because he was enjoying the book and didn't want to disrupt the reading mood by moving.

As Hikari swallowed her food, she heard something in the room that wasn't made by her. She looked around the room curiously.

"What the FUCK was that?" she asked as she was searching in useless places like under her blankets.

"What was what?" Yusuke asked as he sat up.

She lifted up the pillows and said, "It was... I dunno. It was just fucking weird. It sounded hella-"

Hikari heard it again as she was looking underneath the bed. She sat up and said, "There it goes again!"

Looking at Yusuke, she saw that he was looking at Hiei. "What the hell was that Hiei?" she asked still wondering what the hell that sound was.

"Hn," he said.

This sent Hikari flipped out. She pointed at him and said, "There it is!"

After the moment of amazement passed, Hikari went back to eating and was deep in thought about some serious matters.

_If what Yusuke said was true, then does that mean that if I developed the ability to see spirits, then I could see them again? I probably seem so damn childish to be thinking like this, but shit, without them in my life I don't know how I'd be. If they don't exist to me, then no one else exists._

"Yusuke," she said in an even tone, "after a month of whatever the hell we're doing here, I wanna go to the cemetery where my brothers are. I wanna see if anything has changed."

Yusuke rubbed the back of his neck and said unsurely, "I dunno. That isn't something you should be talking to me about. Besides it ain't like we goof off while we're here or something. It's serious."

Hikari gripped her chopsticks tightly. "You don't get it. I ain't askin', that's an order that needs to be met. If I don't I won't be able to live with myself," Hikari said through gritted teeth. "They mean the world to me-"

"They're dead! Who cares! It's probably been years since your brothers died! They ain't gonna come back to life or anything!" he shouted as if it didn't matter.

Hikari was full of anger and sadness at the same time. She threw her food away from her and jumped out of the bed to grab Yusuke by the neck.

"You fucking take all that back you fucking asshole," Hikari said threateningly.

"It's the truth! After someone dies then it's the end for them!" he said clearly not intimidated by her. "It especially applies to those who are six feet under!"

Hikari brought one of her fists back and punched Yusuke to the ground. "DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING TALK ABOUT THEM LIKE THAT!! YOU DON'T KNOW WHO THE HELL THEY ARE!! YOU TAKE THAT SHIT BACK!! THEY AREN'T WORTHLESS AFTER THEY DIE!! THEY'RE STILL IMPORTANT TO ME!!" she yelled in a fit of anger. "FUCK YOU!!"

Through the punches, he managed to say, "Yeah?! What happens after you die?! Then who cares?! NO FUCKING BODY!!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!!!" Hikari started choking him, but then Yusuke managed to roll over so that he was on top punching her.

"GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD THAT THEY'RE DEAD!! THEY'RE NOT LIVING WHATSOEVER!!"

Hikari suddenly went limp and quiet. Yusuke stopped punching her and moved her hair so that he could see her face. Her eyes were glazed over.

"Oh shit," Yusuke cursed. "I didn't kill her did I?!"

Then there was a pulsing feeling that was felt straight down to the bone. Yusuke was unsure of what it was. Even Hiei was alarmed. Koenma and Kurama came bursting into the room. They saw Hikari's body on the floor with that empty look in her eyes. Koenma rushed over and sat her up.

"Hikari, come on," he said as he lightly tapped her on the cheek. "You live in this world. You belong in this world. It will get better. There's still hope. Hikari!"

Kurama just stood there with his hand on the doorknob as he glared at Yusuke. It was obvious to tell what was happening due to the condition of both of their faces. The guilty one looked down in shame as Koenma still tried to bring back Hikari into a fully conscious state. All of them felt another pusle come from Hikari.

"Hikari! Wake up!" Kurama shouted. There were two more quick pulses that they felt until Hikari's head went limp. "Hikari!"

Hikari's eyes fluttered open and she looked around the room in a daze.

_What just happened? I was fighting with Yusuke, and now… Why is Koenma holding me?_

Sitting up on her own, she put her hand to her cheek where she still felt the sting of Yusuke's punches. Lately, she had felt like all her time was being spent on passing out, crying, and feeling like shit. There was a bruise forming on her cheek and it made her wince when she touched it.

She got up on her own and wobbled a bit. "I'm tired of all this useless fighting. Is there any place where I can let off some steam?"

"Ah, yes of course. Hiei, could you lead her to the practice room?"

Wordlessly, Hiei got up and Hikari followed after him.

_I never knew anything would be like this... This trip is a lot more stressful than it seemed... maybe I'm the one making it stressful for myself and everyone else though._

While they were walking down the halls, Hikari just stopped and after walking a few more feet so did Hiei.

"What's the matter?" Hiei asked while sounding like he really didn't care.

"I was wondering, is there a safe field nearby?" she asked without that usual tone of politeness in her voice.

"No."

Hikari's hopes were let down extremely.

"We can go out into a field, but I suppose I'll be look-out."

Hiei went in another direction and then they ended up outside. It took a bit of walking past a lot of trees and bushes to find a clearing. The night sky was illuminated by the moon.

Hikari lay down in the grass and just stared at the stars.

"Don't tell me that's all you came here to do," Hiei said hatefully.

Without a bit of emotion in her voice, Hikari said, "Leave if you want. I could care less."

_Do we all share this same sky? Those in the world of the living and in the realm of the dead? Is this what binds us all together?_

Hikari was somehow content lying there. It brought her the same kind of peace as when she visited her brothers' graves. Despite her previous emotionless state just moments before, she could maybe be considered happy now.

"Hiei... you're a demon right?" she asked curiously. She received no answer, which she expected. "Do you hate humans?"

"Yes," he replied without hesitation.

"Me too."

Hiei's eyes widened in surprise that a human would say that about their own race.

"Humans are the worst creatures to walk on the face of the Earth. They can never learn from past mistakes even if they learn History in school. All they do is destroy everything... I hope someday, they all die out."

"For a human, you don't think like one."

"There are far crazier thoughts from humans than my thoughts, Hiei. I hope one day you will come to realize that."

Letting someone know just how she really felt at that moment defined Hikari's character a little more. She used to struggle with this hatred pent up inside her, but now that she's put that hatred into words it seems to exist in Hikari's world.

Suddenly a thought came to Hikari and she struggled to sit up. Looking directly at Hiei with determination burning in her eyes, she asked, "Hey Hiei, are we friends?"

"What kind of a stupid question is that?" he asked.

"You're not denying it, so I'll just assume that's a yes," she said with a smile. Lying back down, Hikari put her hands behind her head and said, "That's cool. I haven't had one in a long time and I don't think Yusuke qualifies exactly."

Without meaning to, Hikari fell asleep on the grass and Hiei stared at her with a glare.

Meanwhile, everyone else was in Koenma's office. He was still in his teenager form and he had his hands folded in front of his face.

"I can't even tell you how much of an idiot you are, Yusuke," he spoke in a calm manner. "What happened today was a real danger. She would've destroyed the Spirit World instead of the human world and that would've caused a real issue."

He cast a look around the room and when his gaze settled on Yusuke, Koenma closed his eyes. "This is serious you guys. Hikari's got a short temper so if someone really wanted to they could make this world disappear just by getting her a little pissed. I was thinking that if she got rid of her emotions, then she'd be fine, but then that could just mean that it'd be no challenge to get her angry."

"Are you saying that controlling her emotions is the key part in this Koenma?" Kurama asked.

In response, he nodded and said, "This mission really wouldn't be all that hard if she were an optimistic girl. But, she's been met by some unfortunate events in her life, and so we don't need to be making her life any worse. Do you all understand?"

Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kurama all gave a small nod in acknowledgement. "Good. Tomorrow, you're all getting down to business and you'll begin to train her to fight. It's not going to be easy, so don't expect it to be. You may go."

Kuwabara and Yusuke didn't hesitate in leaving that room, but Kurama stuck around. "Koenma…"

Casting his eyes downward, Koenma said, "If you're here to ask about Hikari's parents, then I can't help you. If you want though, I can assign a mission to you guys after training. My men are busy enough as it is, so they can't make a trip to Mongolia."

"I'm sorry to keep pestering you about this," Kurama apologized. "Good night."

Back with Hikari and Hiei, Hikari started shivering in her sleep and then Hiei began to walk off when Hikari woke up with a start.

"GEEZE IT'S FREEZING OUT HERE!!" she looked around and saw Hiei leaving her. "HIEI, YOU JERK!! YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE A GIRL OUT HERE IN THE COLD!! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY MANNERS?!"

She quickly stood up and after overcoming the head-rush, Hikari ran after Hiei.

* * *

Do you like? Do you not like? Would you please let me know? Please? 


	7. To Train the Body and Mind

Hello everyone!! I've been updating lately because I've been home and not going to school. Yeahh... Anyway, here is chapter 7. I might make an omake of this story. Uh... I thought I ought to just say this, but this story was originally going to be about humor and stuff, but somehow, it's all serious. So yeah. Please enjoy!

**Warning: **The following is rated M for languages, sexual references, violence and descriptive grotesqueness. It's really light though.

**Note: **_Italics_ is always and only Hikari's thoughts. Hyphens (-) are used instead of asterisks to censor references.

**Disclaimer: **Hikari and her family. That is all.

* * *

Hikari was sleeping peacefully in her Western style room, when her door was quietly opened and two intruders tip-toed in. 

"HEY HIKARI!! WAKE UP!! IT'S TIME FOR BREAKFAST!!" Yusuke shouted into the sleeping girl's ear.

_Holy fuck!! What's going on?! Is it Pompeii all over again?! Why is that bastard Yusuke in here along with that ugly motherfucker Kuwabara? That is not something I should be waking up to in the morning. Oh! I get it! This is a nightmare._

Hikari just turned over and went back to sleep. Yusuke was enraged at being ignored and tore the blankets off of her.

"I SAID WAKE UP!!" he shouted and both he and Kuwabara left so she could get ready. Hikari groaned and woke up to the coldness of the room.

Climbing off the bed she went to the closet and pulled on some clothes. Walking out of her room and into the hallway, Hikari realized that she didn't know just where the kitchen was.

_Oh. Oh shit. Where is it? Where the fuck is the kitchen? I want my food. What's that smell? Is that food? I hope it's food._

Hikari followed the smell of whatever was wafting through the halls in hopes of finding the kitchen. Luckily, her sense of smell led her in the right direction and she found herself in the kitchen, where everyone else was.

"Ah, good morning," she said shyly.

_Wow. That was awkward. I'm not used to eating breakfast with people around… I'm gonna be so pissed if they watch me eat._

Hikari was handed a plate of food. "Here you go," Kurama said with a smile.

"Thanks," she said and took a seat at the farthest table from everyone. Unfortunately, her wish of eating alone was not recognized as all of them picked up their plates and sat next to her. Hikari was eating rather slowly when Kurama's voice cut through her thoughts.

"Hikari, you should eat a lot so you'll be full of energy to last. It's gonna be a rough day today," he said.

"What… What are we doing today?" she asked cautiously with the tips of her chopsticks in her mouth.

"Rigorous training," Koenma said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Training?! For what?!" she exclaimed.

"To get in better shape."

"Are you saying I'm fat?!" Hikari felt offended. "I'm in great shape thank you very much!!"

"Ah! No! That's not what I meant!" Koenma tried to reassure her while providing hand motions. "I meant we need to refine your skills and fighting style!"

Standing up, Hikari cracked her knuckles and a dark aura emanated from her body. "Eh? Are you tryin' to tell me that there's a problem with my fightin' style?!"

"No! No! No! That's not what I meant at all! Ah!" Koenma was frightened by the junior high school student. "It's not like that! It's not like that at all! Please! Please go back to eating your breakfast!"

Hikari sat down grumbling all the while.

_Dumbass. Tryin' ta pick a fight with me! Who the hell does he think he is?_

After breakfast, they had an hour break before they began Hikari's training. When it was time though, they all met up in a separate building that resembled the inside of a dojo.

Hikari was standing there with traditional kendo uniform and armor and an obviously pissed look on her face. She tapped the ground with the kendo sword she was holding and asked irritably, "Hey. Mind telling me why I'm dressed like this?"

"It's training. We have to teach you some of the basics in kendo to help you learn discipline," Kurama said as he leaned against the wall.

"What the hell Shuichi?!" Hikari complained. "I already learned kendo when I was a kid! I don't need to learn this again!"

"Well let's see how good you are against Kuwabara then we'll see afterwards," Kurama encouraged her.

Kuwabara moved in front of Hikari nervously and unleashed his Spirit Sword.

"Hey! Hey! This ain't fair! That's a Spirit Sword! He isn't fighting with a bamboo one!" she pointed out.

Realizing this, they forced Kuwabara into a kendo outfit just like Hikari. "Fighting a girl is totally against my code," Kuwabara muttered.

"Ha-ha. Come on, ya big ugly idiot. Bring it," she said as she got into her fighting pose.

Both of them raised their bamboo swords to each other and there was a bead of sweat rolling down Kuwabara's face. Through the protective headgear, Kuwabara could see Hikari's dangerous smirk.

"And… fight!" Kurama shouted.

"Get ready, Kuwabara!" Hikari shouted as she changed her pose. She brought the bamboo sword back and a little above her head with her other hand guiding it. Her stance had widened and her gaze narrowed.

"Oh- oh shit," Kuwabara squeeked.

"HERE I COME!" Hikari charged at Kuwabara who mustered up all his courage and prepared himself to attack.

As Kuwabara brought his sword above his head, Hikari took this opportunity to attack him directly to the chest. The power behind Hikari's attack was so strong that it actually broke through the armor and hit him in the solar plexus. The hit wasn't strong enough to kill him though.

Taking off her protective headgear, Hikari asked in a cocky voice, "Well? How was that?"

Kurama sighed and said proudly, "Well done Hikari. Now let's see how you fair against Yusuke."

"Tch," she said as she first took off the towel on her head as well as the rest of the necessary things for kendo. Seeing as Yusuke had to be found first, Hikari quickly changed into some normal clothes to fight in.

The fighters immediately took their places once Hikari's opponent was brought in. They both put their fists up and Kurama looked at each of them to determine the best time to let them start fighting.

"Fighter's ready?! And… fight!"

Yusuke ran at her and tried to land a punch. Hikari ducked and grabbed onto his arm to try and flip him, but he ended up flipping her. Hitting the wooden floor, Hikari grimaced and Yusuke went in to try and punch her while she was on the ground. Hikari put her legs up once Yusuke was within range and then lifted him over her and kicked so that Yusuke landed on the ground too.

She quickly got up and ran at Yusuke who had just got up. She tried to slide at him and try to knock him down onto his feet, but he spread his legs and she went right though, but grabbed his ankle so he ended up falling anyway.

"It's like they're just fighting over a remote or something," Kuwabara said. "They're not punching or anything."

Kurama chuckled and said, "Fighting isn't just about using your fists Kuwabara. Hikari's purposely using these types of moves because despite how quick she is, she knows she's no match for Yusuke. If Yusuke were to land punches, Hikari would be in trouble."

Yusuke had punched Hikari in the cheek where the bruise was. She stumbled backwards as she held her already injured cheek. Gritting her teeth, the determined girl fighter backed up a couple of feet and ran at Yusuke.

Yusuke put up his fists as Hikari jumped in the air feet first. He had expected her to do this, but he didn't expect her to kick one arm away with one foot and get him in the face with the other.

"Shit!" he cursed as he fell on his back.

Hikari wiped her forehead from her sweat with the back of her hand. "Come on Yusuke! You gonna lose to me twice?! You gonna lose to a girl?!"

"That was a cheap shot the first time!" The Spirit Detective got up slowly and wiped the side of his mouth. When he got into a fighting pose, so did Hikari and she began to bounce around like boxers. Hikari came at Yusuke and she had tried to kick him in the face, but he caught her leg. "Hah! Got your leg! You can't do much now!"

Hikari just smirked and jumped off with her other leg to give him a round-house kick to the face. Yusuke was once again on his back, and Hikari landed painfully on her stomach.

"Alright! That's enough training with Yusuke!" Kurama called out to them.

Neither Yusuke nor Hikari were pleased. "I didn't get to finish him/her off though!" they both said in unison.

"There'll be other chances you two," Kurama said to them as if they were little toddlers having a play-date. "We're to see how well you can dodge Hikari."

Something about this just ticked Hikari off. "What the hell?! I just get into a fight and now I'm supposed to dodge shit?! What's up with that?!"

"Calm down. We'll take a break of course, and then afterwards we'll see how well you can dodge."

Rubbing her eyes she said, "Fine. Who's gonna be training me in dodging?"

"I will," Kurama said with a friendly smile.

"I don't like him smiling like that," Hikari said in a quiet voice to Yusuke as she eyed her cousin suspiciously. "It's like he's going to make me do his chores or something."

"Doing chores is the least of your worries," Yusuke whispered back.

During their break, Hikari was lying down in the same spot where she had fallen asleep at the previous night. The rest of the gang joined her and Kuwabara handed her a juice box. She put the straw in the box and sipped it. Her face contorted when she tasted it.

Looking at the box, she saw that it was grape juice. Shoving it into Kuwabara's chest, she said, "What the hell is this?! Grape?! That's gross!!"

"Geeze. Don't gotta be so mean about it," Kuwabara said quietly hoping that she wouldn't hear him. Luck wasn't on his side though.

Hikari grabbed him by the collar. "What was that?! What did you say?!"

"It-it was nothing!! I promise!!" he said.

"Damn straight," she said and Kurama handed Hikari his unopened apple juice box.

Hikari looked at the apple juice with sparkles in her eyes. She rubbed it against her cheek and said, "Thank you so much Shuichi!! Ha-ha! Apple juice you are mine!"

Hikari carefully took off the straw and poked it into the juice box. There was a clearly happy expression on her face and everyone looked at her weirdly for it. When she had finished taking her first sip, she noticed all of them staring. Hikari looked at them with a pissed off look and asked, "What are you looking at? Can't a girl enjoy her apple juice?"

"Never seen someone get so excited over apple juice," Yusuke said as he sipped his own juice. Hikari settled for sending him glares as she drank her treasured apple juice.

Once they were done resting, Kurama ushered them back into the dojo-like building. "Man, having a break like that makes you lazy," Hikari said with a yawn.

They all entered the building and Hikari stood in the middle of the room and waited for Kurama to take his place across from her. "So what am I gonna be dodging?" she asked.

As Kurama reached into his long read hair, Hikari asked him, "…I know your hair is all nice looking and all, but this is hardly the time-"

Kurama then pulled out a rose and Hikari gasped in amazement. "HOLY CRAP!! MAGIC!! I THOUGHT IT NEVER EXISTED!! Unless you just put a random rose in your hair and wait for the moment to pull it out…"

"I store rose buds in my hair and use spiritual energy to make them blossom into roses," he explained and then suddenly the rose changed into his rose whip.

Hikari's face showed that of distate as she looked at her cousin. "Kinda… kinda kinky ain't it? You a masochist? Sadist maybe?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara both cracked up laughing. Pointing at the red head, she asked them with all seriousness, "Can't you imagine it though?!"

The two of them just ended up laughing more and Kurama cleared his throat. His face showed a slight tint of redness from embarrassment. Hikari smiled and said, "It's even more suspicious that you don't deny it either."

"Moving on," Kurama said, "I'm going to be attacking you with my Rose Whip and you are to dodge. Simple right?"

"And what happens if I get hit?" she asked as she eyed the sharp thorns.

Kurama smiled and said, "Well you'll obviously get hit then won't you? The purpose of this is to avoid getting hit, Hikari. Be prepared."

Hikari got herself ready and waited for Kurama to attack. Without warning, he threw the whip directly at her and she jumped backward to avoid it. His attacks were simultaneous and Hikari had to stay on the balls on her feet. Jump back. Duck. Jump over it. Jump left. Duck. Jump over.

_Ack! He got me!_

Hikari landed on the floor in a kneeling position and put a hand to her ankle and she felt the hot blood run onto her hands. Kurama wasn't stopping though. She gritted her teeth and jumped backwards to avoid getting hit.

"Hey!" she called as she was jumping around. "All I'm supposed to be doing is dodging right?"

"That's the idea," Kurama replied. "We'll keep going at it until you tire from jumping or are bleeding profusely from getting hit so many times."

"YOU SUCK SHUICHI!!" Hikari shouted as she narrowly dodged his attack and got a minor scratch on her cheek. Kurama and Hikari kept at it until Hikari had collapsed on the floor and couldn't will her body to move. She was panting heavily and her mind a little cloudy from blood loss.

_Ah... I wonder how long we've been going... Agh... I don't feel well._

Hikari managed to push herself up off the ground a bit just in time to throw up. Yusuke went and got her a bucket, some bottled water, and a towel.

Kurama helped move Hikari away from her own vomit to clean her up a bit. "You did an amazing job Hikari. You managed to dodge most of my attacks and you stopped out of fatigue instead of blood loss," he said as he wiped her face.

Hikari was still breathing hard, but managed to give a small nod. "Thank you, Shuichi," she said. "This crazy ass world and you and your friends with their crazy ass powers… have shown me how much I can still grow."

Kurama placed a hand on her head and said, "It's not a problem Hikari."

As he helped his physically weak cousin up, he thought to himself, "If this is something that can make you happy, then so be it. Putting you through training was a good idea after all then. If this is what prevents you from ceasing everyone's existence and having you all alone, then we can continue this for as long as you'd like. This is to help protect you from something you don't know about."

Kurama guided Hikari into one of the bathrooms in Koenma's place. He carefully sat her on the toilet and grabbed the bandages and disinfectant out of the medicine cabinet. Yusuke had followed them and stood in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Not bad back there," Yusuke complimented. "You certainly lasted longer than I expected."

Hikari winced as the disinfectant spray touched her wound. "Will we be doing anything else besides going into that dojo to train me?"

"It depends I suppose. We could train you in the forest, or if Koenma has a mission for us, we'll go and do that," Kurama said as he delicately wrapped Hikari's ankle in bandages.

"Hikari, if you could have any weapon, what would it be?" Yusuke asked.

"A weapon…" she repeated.

…_What weapon would I want if I could have any weapon? What a friggin' hard decision!! I can't just choose one! Every weapon has something special thing about them._

Scratching her head, she asked, "How do you expect me to choose just one?"

"Hikari, please don't move," Kurama said as he concentrated on applying the bandage on her other arm just right.

"Alright, alright," Yusuke said. "How about this then? What weapon would be your favorite to use in a fight?"

"Trench knives," Hikari said without any hesitation. "It's the kind that As--- Saru---- uses in Nar---."

Yusuke blinked for a moment and said, "Wow. I've never met someone so obsessed with anime."

Blushing out of embarrassment, Hikari puffed out her cheeks and said, "Shut up!"

"Hikari, please stop moving," Kurama said with a firm voice.

"Oh, sorry," she replied again.

Once he placed a band-aid on Hikari's cheek, Kurama stood up and stretched his back. "There we go," he said, "all done."

Standing up, she said, "Thanks, Shuichi… even though you're the one that inflicted these wounds."

Giving her an embarrassed smile, he said, "You're quite welcome. Also, please, feel free to call me Kurama around here."

It was getting late in the night, so everyone gathered in the dining room for dinner. They all hungrily ate the food that was placed before them. Hikari had felt calm once she had finished her food.

They were walking down the halls at a leisurely pace to their own rooms.

"I've never seen a girl eat like that before," Yusuke said with slight disgust.

In response, Hikari just pushed him into the wall. All that training and exercising she did had worn her out and that last meal made her especially sleepy. When her head hit the pillow, she immediately fell asleep.

* * *

Hmm... What's going to happen in the next "volume"? I sure know. Do you even care? Probably not... Keep reading if you like. Feedback is appreciated though. Just thought I ought to put that out there. 


	8. The Great Disappointment

Here is Chapter 8!! I hope you like it. Uhh... would I like to say anything else? ...No. Well yeah, alright, sure. I'd like to thank my best friend "Jeri" who always reads my stories after I post them up and also edits my spelling and grammar errors. I'm sure those of you who read within minutes of me posting my stories up, you come across many errors. Then later it's fixed. So yeah.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for language and violence.

**Note: **_Italics_ Hikari's thoughts.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned _Yu Yu Hakusho,_ I wouldn't be doing this then.

* * *

Hikari trained hard with the goal of improving her own style of fighting. For the first week and a half, Koenma had her concentrate on the basics of kendo, hand-to-hand, and dodging. The rest of the other half of the week was spent on reading her opponents and predicting what they were going to do next. 

On some days, they would have a break so as to not tire out Hikari's determined spirit. During this time, Hikari would exercise by doing push-ups, sit-ups, and weight lifting. Koenma was passing by the dojo building one day when he noticed Hikari was meditating. In actuality, she had just fallen asleep sitting up.

He quietly entered the dojo and put a hand on Hikari's shoulder, which made her yell and freak out. "Hikari! Hikari! Calm down it's just me!" Koenma said.

Hikari was breathing hard from the shock of being woken up. "What- what is it, Koenma?" she asked once she had caught her breath.

"You should take a break from training and exercising. You'll tire yourself out at this rate," he suggested.

"If I don't train, I won't get any stronger," she said as she stood up and stretched, "but I guess my body won't be able to take it if I push myself too hard. So what do you suggest?"

Koenma smiled and said, "Well everyone's about to watch a movie. Would you like to join us?"

She shrugged and said, "Sure, I suppose."

They walked back into the main building and to the living room where all the guys were and also a blue haired girl.

"Botan, this is Hikari. Hikari, the blue haired person is Botan. She's the grim reaper," Koenma said.

"Nice to meet you Hikari!" Botan said in a bubbly voice.

"U-uh, yeah. You too," Hikari replied.

_There is something seriously wrong with that lady if she's the grim reaper. Isn't the grim reaper supposed to be scary and just bones? She's definetely too happy to be the grim reaper. It's like… against the rule of life or something._

Hikari took a seat on the floor next to Yusuke and Botan handed her a pillow and blanket. They began to play the movie and as the previews showed, Kuwabara came running in with loads of popcorn in bowls.

As the movie came to the menu, he handed out the bowls to everyone. Putting the bowl of buttered popcorn in her lap, she asked, "What movie is this?"

"Ic-- th- Kil---," Koenma said. "Have you seen it before?"

Hikari nodded and said, "Yeah. It's a pretty good movie."

They were watching the movie when an especially disturbing scene came on and Botan started screaming.

"I can't take it! It's too gross!" she said while hiding behind a pillow.

"Hey, be quiet," Hikari hushed her. "One of the best scenes is when Kir----- cuts off his own tongue!"

Once the movie was over, almost everyone was passed out where they were. Hikari was trying not to fall asleep so she could take a quick shower before heading to her room. The tired feeling overcame her though and she ended up lying on Yusuke.

Yusuke surprisingly woke up earlier than everyone else. Feeling something heavy on his stomach, he looked down to find Hikari cuddling with him in her sleep.

Blinking in surprise, he watched her sleeping form. Scratching his chin in embarrassment, he thought, "Despite being a bitch half the time, she's kinda cute when she's sleeping…"

Realizing what he had just thought, Yusuke had a mental battle with himself. "What?! No! What about Keiko?! Wait… What **about** Keiko? It's not like Keiko and I got anything going on… but that doesn't mean I think Hikari's cute! What the hell?! That crazy bitch is not cute! There is no way I could think she's cute! It's absolutely impossible!! …Right? Ah, fuck it. She's cute."

Yusuke gave up on trying to deny it, and just went back to sleep.

When Hikari woke up, she immediately freaked out.

_What the-?! Why was I sleeping on top of Yusuke and cuddling with him no less?! Ahh… this is creepy!! What the hell happened last night?!_

The next week, they put Hikari up against Hiei in a very scary game of tag. They were to play deep in the forest and Hikari was to try and get back to Koenma's before Hiei could get to her. If Hiei were to catch up with her, then he was supposed to lightly cut her back with his sword.

As Hiei unsheathed his sword, Hikari eyed his blade wearily.

_Aw shit. I don't wanna be caught if I'm gonna have injuries from that thing. Okay Hikari. Run as fast as you can, dodge as many trees as you can and hope you don't run into any of them. You can do this! You can beat that shrimp!_

Hikari didn't know that Hiei was reading her thoughts. He decided that the cuts would be bigger than intended.

Once Kurama gave the signal, Hikari was off trying to find her way back. While she was running, she didn't let a potentially deadly game of tag get in her way of training. Hikari weaved through trees as she kept an eye out for the enormous home.

Her concentration on zig-zagging through trees was interrupted when she heard something behind her. Looking over her shoulder, Hikari was shocked to find the demon cloaked in black so close behind her jumping from tree branch to tree branch.

_What is he a monkey?! No one even told me I could be in the trees either!! I thought we were doing this the old fashioned way! Cheater!_

Hikari kept running, which seemed effortless as Hiei seemed to only get closer. Hikari knew that Hiei was going easy on her. She knew he would've already caught up to her if this game of tag wasn't about training her. Once he caught up with her, he was a little forgiving, but still ruthless in hurting her.

One. Two. Three cuts to the back. All of them were about 30 centimeters in length all spread out on her back. Hiei got her three times because that's how many seconds it took Hikari to get father away from him.

_Asshole! That's not a light cut, that's close to a gash! Damn it… That midget is gonna get it later._

At the end of the game of tag, Hikari received a total of seventeen cuts to the back. Some of them were a little foolish to get just because she got lost on the way. A few of the injuries weren't cuts, but rather small stabs in the back, which angered Hikari and made Kurama rethink his ties to Hiei.

At Koenma's, Botan was to mend Hikari's wounds, which required cleaning them, disenfecting them, stitching up some of them, and bandaging them all.

"That was certainly scary," Botan said as she wrapped Hikari up in bandages. "Hiei is one person you do not want chasing after you."

"Yeah, seriously," Hikari replied. "That little bastard… instead of cutting me he stabbed me. There are gonna be more marks on my back now!"

"Calm down. I'm sure you'll be able to get back at him one way or another," Botan said.

Hikari just nodded in agreement. There was already a plan formulating in her mind.

_Just because Hiei wears the same thing every fucking day doesn't mean he has an unlimited stock of black cloaks, and with all this training we're doing, I'm sure he has to do his laundry some time. Ha-ha! Hiei doing laundry, what a hilarious sight. Anyway, I'll take all the black clothes from the laundry and throw it into a large tub full of bleach. I'll then take them back out and throw it back into the wash with a red sock. Heh heh heh. My plan is ingenious._

It would've been ingenious if Hiei wasn't well aware of what she was planning. He knew she would be pissed about what happened when they played tag so he expected payback of some sort.

That week , Hikari was being chased through the forest again, but this time, she had to fight off some ogres as well with a wooden sword. Even though Koenma's place was full of ogres, they still scared Hikari shitless when they seemed to pop out of nowhere.

_A month is over… It's time for me to back to their graves. Even though it's been just a month, I know I've grown. This trip will gauge how much I've grown._

Hikari was waiting just outside the front of the palace-for-a-house when Kurama, Yusuke, Botan, Hiei, Kuwabara, and Koenma all came out. Smiling, she said, "Come on. Hurry up."

They all got into the van, which was designed to travel between the living world and the Spirit World. They were in front of Yusuke's and Hikari's apartment complex.

Getting out, Hikari immediately headed towards the cemetery without waiting for the others. She took note that the clouds in the sky were turning a dark grey color. The day that Hikari had returned to the living world was the reason why she was training very hard, and so she was in a rush to get there as soon as possible even if it meant putting herself in danger.

On the way there, Hikari was close to getting hit by three cars. The first one she managed to survive by quickly sliding off the hood of the car. The second she actually did get slightly hit by, but then climbed on top of it and then jumped off the top. The last one she simply got a running start and hurdled over it.

By the time Hikari was at the entrance of the cemetery, she was out of breath because of how far she had to run. She caught her breath for just a moment before entering the cemetery to find her brothers' graves.

Standing before their graves, Hikari panted. Her sweat had stuck her bangs onto her face and it obscured her vision. Pushing it out of her way, she looked at the graves. Even though Hikari hadn't yet regulated her breathing, it immediately went back to normal as the expression on her face dropped.

_Nothing. There's no one standing there. So I still can't see anything._

Hikari looked around the cemetery and saw a few spirits as little flames floating in the air, but they had no definite form. It pissed her off and saddened her at the same time. Dropping to the ground, she punched her hand in the cement pathway.

_What the hell was the use of all this then?! Why can't I see any more than just flames?! Have I not worked hard enough?! Am I not worthy to see my own brothers?! What kind of fucked up shit is this?!_

The rain started to come down just as Hikari began to desperately try and hold back her tears. She knew the others were all watching her from not far away, but the pain in her heart and the pressure of the tears in her eyes were all too much for her to hold back.

Bringing her head close to the ground, Hikari let out all her pain in a yell.

"RAAAAHHHHHHHHHH WHAT THE HELL?!" she yelled. "WHEN I CAME BACK I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO SEE YOU!! SPIRITS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE JUST A FLOATING BALL THAT'S ON FIRE!! THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PEOPLE YOU CAN LOOK AT!!"

Tears began to stream down her face and fell on the already wet ground.

"Damn it," Hikari cursed in a quiet voice.

The rain began to soak through Hikari's clothes until she was drenched. Out of worry, Botan ran over and draped Kuwabara's jacket over her shoulders.

"Come on sweetie, let's go before you become ill," Botan said in a soothing voice while putting her hands on Hikari's shoulders. Hikari didn't move or speak. "Hikari, let's go."

Trying to get the girl up on her legs, Botan tried to get Hikari to come with her, but she wouldn't budge from her spot.

Kurama saw Botan's trouble and went over to help. Once Kurama's hand touched her back, she snapped at him.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!!"

Botan withdrew her hands as if she had burned them. Kurama kept his hand by his side and he said, "If you stay here in the rain Hikari, you'll catch a fever just like last time."

"Stay the hell away from me," she said. Kurama took note of how pale her face had already gotten.

Placing a hand on Botan's shoulder, Kurama shook his head and the blue haired woman stood up leaving Kuwabara's jacket on Hikari's shoulders and the two of them walked back to the others.

"It's no use," Kurama said. "She's not gonna move unless she sees them or she passes out."

All of them turned to leave for the van, but Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama stayed behind.

Yusuke chuckled and said that, "I guess none of us could really leave her like this. This says a lot about you, Hiei."

Turning his head to the side, he said, "I'm just used to accompanying Hikari to the graves, nothing more."

"Sure," Yusuke said with an unconvinced tone, "whatever you say."

Kurama turned to Yusuke and said, "Stay here with her. I'll go and buy some umbrellas."

As Kurama left, Yusuke walked over to Hikari and said in a light-hearted way, "You're such trouble."

He then took off his jacket and dumped it on Hikari's head. She didn't respond to it though and just kept staring blankly at the two graves. Hiei just watched from underneath a tree. The rain seemed to come down even harder.

After a while, Kurama came running back with three umbrellas, one of which he was using. He handed one to Hiei and then walked over to Yusuke to hand him one. Kurama stood next to his cousin to cover both himself and his depressed cousin. They stayed like that until the sun was starting to set and the streetlights were starting to turn on.

Crouching down, Kurama smiled to his cousin and said, "We'll stay with you Hikari. Even if we don't know your brothers personally, we'll be here for you."

Pushing her wet hair out of the way, she looked at Kurama with sad eyes. Tears filled up her eyes and she started crying uncontrollably. Despite the fact that it was still raining and that Hikari was soaking wet, Kurama put down the umbrella and hugged his cousin. The sky still had some light when the rain had ceased for the moment, as did Hikari's tears.

When Hikari had calmed down, she stood up and all of them walked back to Yusuke's and Hikari's apartments. Botan, Kuwabara, and Koenma all left the van and went inside Hikari's apartment. Kurama, Yusuke, and Hikari all had to take hot showers when they got there. Luckily, no one had caught a cold.

Koenma, wanting to cheer Hikari up, had suggested that a change of pace was in order.

"I feel like I've been robbing you of your social life since I've alienated you from the living world and so maybe we should spend some time here," Koenma explained.

"So we're just supposed to hang out here like it's a normal summer day?" Kuwabara asked.

"Pretty much."

"We should all go out as a group," Kurama suggested as he looked at his cousin hugging her legs close to her body, "that way it'll be more fun."

"That's great and all pretty boy, but where are we gonna go?" Yusuke asked with an annoyed look.

There were unsure glances passed all around the room.

"I know!" Botan exclaimed. "Let's all go shopping!"

"No!" they all said in unison. They knew how Botan was when she was in a mall and it was not a pretty sight. This got everyone besides Hiei and Hikari in a heated argument about what was fun and what was a snorefest.

Kuwabara then began to wave his arm around frantically for attention as his face had a surprised expression. After about a few minutes his face began to strain and turn purple due to holding his breath. This was when everyone else began to pay attention to him.

"I know something that we can do!" he said while he exhaled a great amount of air. "We can go to an amusement park!"

The rest of the gang began to discuss it in favor of the idea. After about two minutes of agreeing with each other, Koenma said, "Alright, it's settled then. We're all going to an amusement park."

Everyone cheered in excitement for the next day's trip. None of them, besides Kurama, had ever been to an amusement park before.

Kurama turned to Hikari, who had not moved an inch, and said, "Isn't that great Hikari? We're all going to an amusement park."

The look on her face showed that she still hadn't gotten over the fact that she wasn't able to see them if they were in fact there. The pain she felt was still inside her and it hurt Kurama to see his own family suffering like that.

* * *

How do you like this chapter? Nice? Not nice? Elegant? Grotesque? Tell me what you think please. 


	9. With Amusement Comes a Mission

Hello. It's been a while since I last posted up a story. Actually going to school has kept me busy, but today, I didn't go to school, which is why this story is up. I've been kept away from the computer last week since I spend my time after school in the library. That does not mean I study though. I usually take naps, write some stuff for this story in my notebook, and wait to get picked up. So yeah. That's what I do after school, except for Fridays, which is when I go over "Jeri's" house. Yeup. So please enjoy this probably long awaited chapter.

**Note: **_Italics_ is Hikari's thoughts. Also, I'm sure you'll find plenty of grammar and spelling errors. They will be corrected by "Jeri" later on when she reads it.

**Disclaimer: **Yeah, I only own Hikari and her family and that one yakuza guy.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for violence and language.

* * *

Mostly everyone was in high spirits for the trip to the amusement park. Before leaving the apartment, Koenma ordered and paid for a large breakfast. 

At the amusement park, Botan, Kuwabara, and Yusuke were especially excited and wanted to ride everything, and so Hikari and Hiei were dragged onto rides whether they liked it or not.

Throughout the day, Hikari's mood began to lighten up and she was actually starting to have fun.

On the way to another ride, Hikari had dropped something that Yusuke had won for her so she would cheer up. Stopping and turning back to go get it, Kurama stopped too.

"Hikari, what's the matter?" Kurama asked.

"It's nothing. I just dropped something. Go on ahead," Hikari said. "I'll catch up with you guys."

Hikari went back and found the stuffed animal on the ground. As she reached down to get it, someone else picked it up before her. Looking up, Hikari saw a good-looking guy smiling at her with the stuffed animal in hand.

_Holy crap he's gorgeous!! This is too good to be true!!_

"Is this yours?" he asked in a voice that made Hikari swoon.

Blushing, Hikari nodded and he handed her the stuffed animal back.

"Uh, thanks," she said shyly.

He looked at Hikari with a strange expression and she panicked.

_Oh no! Is there something on my face?! Is there something in my teeth?!_

"Are you… Hikari Morino?" he asked and Hikari's eyes widened.

_How does he know my name?! Is he a stalker?! But he's too good-looking to be a stalker!!_

Hikari nodded cautiously and the guy smiled.

"We're in the same class at Sarayashiki," he said. "I'm Kira Sayaki."

Hikari stared at him with a blank expression. She really didn't know who he was.

"Ah, you don't know who I am do you?"

Hikari slowly shook her head and gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I'm usually unconscious during class."

Kira let out a small laugh and said, "Well I don't want to keep you and your friends, so I'll just see you at school."

Hikari blushed and said, "Uh, yeah! See ya!"

They parted ways and as Hikari ran to meet up with the gang, she held the stuffed animal close. The gang noticed her rejoining them and Yusuke was the first to verbally acknowledge it.

"That certainly took you a while to meet up with us," he said with a slightly pissed off tone of voice. "What the hell were you doing?"

Hikari pouted and said, "I went to get the stuffed animal you had won for me since I dropped it. While I was reaching for it, someone else picked it up and it just happened to be a good-looking classmate of mine!"

"Good-looking classmate?" Hikari nodded in reply to Yusuke's question. "I really don't think you needed to mention that part."

Hikari simply shrugged and they all got into another line for a ride.

They finished up their trip to the amusement park by watching fireworks.

Hikari had only remembered seeing fireworks when she was still very young. Her brothers had brought her to many festivals and the first couple of times she had gotten scared and cried, but as she kept going to see them, Hikari was used to the loud explosions, and began to enjoy the fireworks.

The first firework that had went off that night scared Hikari for a brief moment.

On the way back to the apartments, Yusuke teased Hikari. "Hah! You were so scared you jumped into my lap!"

Hikari was so embarrassed already. "Shut up! I haven't seen fireworks since I was a kid! I'm just not used to it anymore!"

Even though it was just one firework that had scared her, Yusuke wasn't going to let her live it down for a long time.

The last month Hikari was met with intense training that nearly left her half dead. In the midst of it all, Koenma decided she was finally ready to go on a mission with the guys.

Hikari, Kurama, and Hiei were all waiting around for Yusuke and Kuwabara to show up so they could be filled in about the mission.

_Wouldn't this mission be about demons and ghosts and stuff? What the hell am I gonna do? I don't have any spiritual or demonic power._

Hiei suddenly said, "If we're going to be fighting, you'll have to be able to pull your own weight. We won't be able to save you every time you're in trouble."

Hikari challenged him with a glare and said, "Lay off, I'm as normal as they come and this is a contest of freaks. What do you want me to do, fire my slingshot at them?"

Kurama chuckled and at that moment Yusuke and Kuwabara finally joined them.

"Took you guys long enough," Hikari said as she watched them walk in with a lazy look.

"At least we're here now," Yusuke replied with a grumpy attitude.

Hikari opened her mouth to retaliate, but Koenma managed to begin talking before her.

"Finally everyone is here. Alright, I'll begin to explain your mission then," Koenma said as he pressed a button on the remote on his desk and a monitor appeared behind him.

"Cool," Hikari said with a whistle.

"Your mission is not a huge one that puts the human world in danger, but it is still a difficult matter. There are demons trying to break out of this prison. None of them are higher than an E class, but that doesn't mean that this mission will be that easy. There are easily one thousand there. They're all still contained within the prison since none of them have figured out just where the exit is and the entire place is sealed within a barrier that has weakened over the years," Koenma said. "Your job is to round up all these demons back into their cells without having any of them leave."

"What's the E class?" Hikari asked.

"E class is the weakest class of demons. They're slightly stronger than humans but can easily be matched by strong humans like Kuwabara, Yusuke, and probably yourself."

"Probably?" Hikari repeated with a unimpressed tone. "Don't sound too confident in me, Koenma."

"Some demons are stronger than others. Some are closer to a D class and some are just extremely weak, so I advise you to be careful and don't hesitate to ask someone else for help," Koenma said.

"That's not possible," Hikari said. "I rely on my own strength and I don't depend on others. If I die to the lowest class of demons, who are just a little stronger than humans, then I will shame my brothers. I wasn't trained my whole life just to waste what I learned by dying to strong opponents. I was trained to defeat my opponents!"

"Dude, I think you've got some whack sense of justice," Yusuke said bluntly.

"What the fuck?" Hikari said. "Who said anything about justice, stupid? I was trained to fight, defeat my opponents, and be stronger than everyone else so I can kick everyone's asses! Good or bad, it doesn't matter! If they're strong I'll defeat them!!"

Hikari started to laugh like a crazy person and Yusuke said to Kurama, "You're sure she's the only crazy relative that you know?"

"The only crazy one I know currently," he replied with a sweat drop on the back of his head.

Suddenly snapping out of her conceited daydream, she said with confidence, "Alright! Let's go!! I'm fired up!!"

"She's pretty conceited when it comes to physical strength," Kuwabara said.

Hikari's enthusiastic expression was replaced by a scarier one most often worn by yakuza members. "What did you say?" she asked in a low voice as she grabbed him and pulled him down by the collar.

"It's nothing! I swear it's nothing! Don't hurt me!" Kuwabara pleaded and Hikari let him go with a little shove.

"Oh. Do I get some sort of weapon or something?" Hikari asked. "I seriously think it's unfair if I don't get one and I'm fighting."

"If you'd like one, we can get you one. What would you like?" Koenma asked.

Hikari thought for a moment and said, "I want… a wooden bat with nails in it."

"What are you, a real gang member or something?! And didn't you say that you wanted trench knives that one time?" Yusuke asked.

"I'll get tired easily with trench knives if I keep punching all the time. At least with a bat with nails I'll be able to swing and take out a lot of them."

"Why not use a sword?" Kuwabara asked.

"Because I want to use a wooden bat with nails in it!" she yelled. "Do you have to question my needs?! I'll use a sword next time damn it!!"

"Alright. Calm down now Hikari. Botan will take you to where it is in moments," Koenma said and Botan mysteriously entered through a hidden door.

Within moments they were just out of the barrier of the prison and the smell of it made Hikari feel queasy, but she didn't throw up. Pulling out a handkerchief out of her pocket, she tied it over her mouth and nose to help not smell the awful stench.

Yusuke eyed her and said, "Are you sure you aren't in a gang? What's your gang sign and color?"

Hikari glared and said, "Just shut up Yusuke. Let's go already."

"This is as far as I'm taking you," Botan said while pinching her nose. "You guys go on ahead."

They entered through a sudden opening in the barrier, which closed immediately after they all passed through.

"Are you ready Hikari? This is your first mission," Kurama said.

She nodded and they all walked towards the entrance. They opened the door and saw that the first floor had no demons whatsoever. Going on to the next level, they saw it was infested with demons just destroying everything and running around the place.

They all stood around and watched for a moment as they all rampaged the place without noticing them.

"So what were we supposed to do again?" Kuwabara asked.

"We're supposed to round them all back into their cells," Kurama said.

"So… we don't kill them?" Yusuke asked now a little less pumped up than moments before.

"Precisely," Kurama replied. "I guess this is like rounding up sheep or something. Let's start shall we?"

Looking up at the red head, Hiei asked, "And how do we go about doing that? We obviously can't just walk right up to them and tell them to move. It'd be easier if we could just kill them all."

Hikari raised her hand and said, "I'll get their attention."

She tied back her hair, and stepped forward towards the loose demons. Pointing her bat at the demons she yelled in a low voice, "HEY!! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET YOUR ASS BEAT THEN I SUGGEST YOU GET BACK IN YOUR CAGES YOU UNCOUTH BARBARIANS!!"

They all stopped whatever they were doing and looked at Hikari, who had a sweatdrop on the back of her head.

Yusuke whispered to Kurama, "You're not only related to a someone that's crazy, but also a gang member in the making."

"It seems to appear that way," Kurama replied.

All the demons charged at Hikari and everyone charged right back at them. The hallway wasn't all that wide so many a time they were close to hitting one another. All five of them plowed their way through the masses and left unconscious bodies in their trail and soon they were on the third level, where there was a lot more room.

The third floor held four enormous cells total. All of them had to be careful or they could get locked in one of them.

Hikari was holding her own, but the demons seemed to be ganging up on her.

_Shit! They can tell that I don't have as much spirit energy as the others! Damn it! Come on Hikari! You've gotta defeat them! ARGH!! THEY'RE GETTING TOO CLOSE!!_

The demons began to pile on top of her and some jumped on her back and limbs so that it was hard for her to move.

"GET OFFA ME YOU FREAKISH LIZARD THINGS!!" Hikari yelled as she pulled back her elbow to get a demon in the chest and then threw her fist forward to get another demon that was coming at her. She threw her bat over her back to get the demon on her back off. Once she got all the demons off of her, Hikari held out her arms parallel to the ground and spun around to knock back the demons that were coming at her.

After defeating all the ones on the third level, they took a small breather for Hikari's sake.

Putting a hand on her back as she tried to catch her breath, Kurama asked, "Are you alright Hikari?"

She nodded and said, "Yeah. I'm just not used to trying to fight a lot of guys at once. I'll be fine."

Stepping on the bodies of the defeated, they made their way up to the next level, which was another hallway. Those demons in the hallway were defeated instantaneously. They moved onto the last level. Hikari hadn't done much as they fought on the fourth level, but she was still tired.

"Would you like to rest, Hikari? We can take care of the rest," Kurama said to his cousin as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Pushing his hand off of her, Hikari began walking with the others and said, "I'll be fine. I'll see this through until the end."

The fifth level was just like the third level, full of demons and cells along the walls. Despite how exhausted she was from being ganged up on, Hikari wanted to keep on going until the mission was completed.

The fighting raged on for a while longer, but the girl was just too exhausted to continue. As she managed to knock out her last opponent, Hikari fell backward and onto the pile of demons she defeated.

"HIKARI!!"

Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara hurried to finish off the last of their opponents to get to Hikari. They ran over to her and saw that she was simply sleeping. Kurama sighed in relief as he picked up his cousin.

"She gave me quite a scare," Kurama said. "But who was that who yelled?"

They all looked at each other unsure of who it was, but whoever did yell Hikari's name wasn't about to admit to it. As the gang made their way back to the first level, Yusuke realized something.

"Wait… weren't we supposed to round them up?" he asked.

Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at him. "Technically we did, didn't we? I mean, we got them all to stop moving in a certain area," Kuwabara said.

For once, they all shrugged it off and went home to leave getting the criminals in their cells to the workers.

Arriving back at Koenma's place, Hikari was put on the couch and a blanket was placed on top of her and a pillow was put under her head.

When Hikari woke up, she was slightly disoriented and didn't know where she was.

_Uhh… let's see… what's the last thing I remember? …Maybe I should start with figuring out where I am first. Alright, so where am I? I'm at… Koenma's place. GOOD JOB!! Now, what was I doing before this? Let's see… I was standing around in Koenma's office with Kurama and Hiei… That seems like too long ago though. What else happened?! Uhh… that big building- prison! That's right we had a mission at a prison! Okay. Now… what happened between that time and now? Uh, there was fighting, more fighting, a little less fighting, and then a bunch of fighting. … Uhh… c'mon, Hikari. Connect the dots. So I was tired while I was fighting… but what happened at the end? Shit, it's really annoying not being able to remember! Okay, so it was…_

"How pathetic," Hiei muttered as he walked through the halls alone and read the clueless mind of Hikari.

The next day, they went back to training Hikari relentlessly until she passed out or threw up, or even throw up and then pass out. It all soon came to an end since school was fast approaching.

The first day back to school, Hikari woke up lazily and it took her forever to get out of bed to get ready. Once Oyuun started yelling at her that she would be late if she didn't hurry up, Hikari immediately jumped out of bed.

As she opened the front door, she saw Yusuke there.

"Yo," he said and they began to walk slowly to school.

Yawning, Hikari said, "I don't see what the point of making me rush to get out of the house was if I'm just going to be late to school anyway… or maybe it has to do with her night job."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask. What IS your sister's night job anyway?"

Hikari suddenly felt nauseous.

_Where is the nearest bush? I think I'm gonna be sick! People shouldn't just bluntly ask things like that!_

"Hey, you alright?" he asked and she nodded. "So what's her night job?"

"A female escort."

Yusuke stopped walking and blinked in surprise. "Whoah!! What?! You serious?!"

Hikari simply nodded with a seemingly soulless aura around her.

"Hey… you okay?" Yusuke asked as he poked her and she simply wobbled from side to side. "Heyyyy… Hellooooo… Hikari…"

* * *

What do you think? I'm sure the next chapter will be more interesting. I was kind of having a writer's block during this one. Well, not really a writer's block, but I didn't exactly know how to transition from point A to point B. You can see I kind of rushed it a little, but yeah. Ha-ha. I hope you enjoyed it. 


	10. We Are Still Here For You

Hello! It's been a while, but that's mainly my fault. Sorry about that. I suffered from a writer's block as I wrote this and some other things got in my way such as school and other stuff. Some of the other stuff that has been going on is that it was my birthday and it was like a small three day celebration. The rest is basically just school. Anyway, here is the long awaited Chapter 10.

**Disclaimer: **I only own the characters I made up. Like Hikari, Dameon, Mattias, Oyuun, the yakuza guy, and Hikari's parents and grandmother.

**Note: **_Italics_ are Hikari's thoughts. There is a 99.9 chance that there are spelling and grammar errors. "Jeri" will fix it later when she reads it.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for crude and mature language.

* * *

As Yusuke and Hikari made their way to school, Hikari felt more and more excited, but she didn't know why. She tried to recall everything that happened, but it all seemed like it was so long ago. Then she remembered something unpleasant.

Looking at Yusuke with a sad smile, she asked, "Hey, do you think we can go to the cemetery after school?"

Sensing what was on her mind, he said, "But Hikari, what if you don't see them?"

She looked down and said, "Then maybe… Then maybe I'm not supposed to see them. Now come on, hurry up. I don't want to be extremely late for school."

In class, despite Hikari's previous hyper mood, she was feeling pretty sleepy in class and eventually she fell asleep. Hikari had actually begun to dream as she slept through class. She was about five years old in the dream and she was reliving an exaggerated version of the day her brothers left.

She was at the back of her grandmother's house and her brothers were walking down the hallway with their duffel bags slung over their shoulders. With her short legs, she tried to run after them, but her efforts seemed fruitless as the hallway seemed to be getting longer and longer and they were getting farther and farther away. By the time her brothers exited the front door, Hikari had just finished running through the hallway and still chased after them. As she ran down the driveway, they started packing their things into the trunk of a car.

Stopping in the middle of the street, Hikari tried to yell for them. _Mattias!! Dameon!! Come back!! Brothers!! Don't leave me!!_

They did not hear her voice and they just smiled back at her. Sadness bringing her to her knees, Hikari began to cry and crawl over to them. Her small kindergarten body didn't seem to move and was glued to where she was. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something approaching. Looking to her right, she saw a tank approaching and it was close to running her over.

She tried to cry for help to her brothers, but they just smiled as they got into the car. With all her strength, Hikari reached out a hand to show that she needed help, but just as the tank had gotten right next to her, Hikari woke up from the nightmare with a start.

The troubled teenager sat up and looked around the room frantically. Most of the seats in her class were empty, besides some students who had their lunches out.

"What the-" she said to herself and just ran her hand though her hair.

"Hey Hikari, are you alright?" someone asked from behind her.

Turning around she saw that gorgeous guy from the amusement park. "Oh!" she said remembering his face. "You're… uh… You're…"

He chuckled and said, "Kira Sayaki. Are you alright? You sat up quite suddenly."

She nodded and said, "I just had a bad dream is all."

Kira blinked in surprise and said, "You weren't kidding about being unconscious in class. You were even dreaming."

"Hey! Hikari! You have a visitor! It's Urameshi!" someone by the door said.

Looking at Kira, she said, "Please excuse me."

As Hikari was making her way over, Yusuke poked his head in the classroom and yelled at her, "I don't have all day missy!!"

Putting on a frown, Hikari puffed her cheeks and said, "I know!! Just shut your big mouth alright?!"

Kuwabara poked his head in the classroom too, but Hikari just pushed his ugly mug back out. "What is it? You guys would usually just let me eat or sleep in peace," she said annoyed.

"We had a bad feeling and we thought something was wrong. Are you okay?" Yusuke asked with a serious expression.

Her gaze was downcast and she said, "I was sleeping during class and I had a pretty bad nightmare."

Yusuke gave a head gesture to Kuwabara, and Yusuke began to walk down the halls with Hikari with the intention of going up to the roof, where serious matters could be discussed without being overheard. Kuwabara was walking loosely behind making sure no one was following them.

"What was it about?"

"My brothers leaving me. It was highly exaggerated, but it all felt so real," Hikari said while she looked down at her body that was unable to move in the dream.

"You sure you wanna visit the cemetery today after having a dream like that?" he asked.

Nodding, she said, "It's probably a premonition of some sort of what's going to happen there."

"Then why go if you know the outcome?"

"To know the truth. In all honesty Yusuke, I'm not going to stop going back there until I see them, no matter what it takes. My brothers were the world to me and I won't be at peace with their death until I see them one last time."

The bell rang signaling it was the end of lunch, so Yusuke and Hikari walked back down to their classrooms. Hikari slept through the rest of the school day. After school, Yusuke and Hikari went wordlessly to the cemetery.

They walked to her brothers' graves and she didn't stand staring at it for more than five seconds before leaving. Yusuke knew better than to say anything at this point.

Two men watched as she left with a downfallen look on her young face.

"I see. So I still haven't reached you…" the older one muttered.

"Brother, why can she not see us?"

"Could it be that she does not want to see us for fear that our deaths would become real?" the older one said as the younger one looked at him with shock. "I know she wishes to see us Dameon, but to put it simply, she doesn't possess the power to see spirits clearly yet."

"No matter how many times I tell her not to worry, she doesn't listen for she cannot hear," Dameon said as she watched Hikari's small figure turn a corner and then suddenly go out of sight. "Just how many times must I strain my voice before it will reach you?"

"I'm sure she knows that even we, those who cannot feel the rain, hate it as much as she does. When she feels pain and cries, she doesn't realize the sky cries with her. When she's sad, the rain falls so terribly easily," the older one said as he looked up at the clouding sky.

"Mattias, if and when she is able to see us, will we tell her what truly happened?" Dameon asked his older brother.

A drop of rain fell straight through Mattias' hand and he looked down at his transparent skin. "Considering the power she possesses, I think it wise not to tell her while she still doesn't have her emotions under control. As they say, the truth will set you free, but Hikari will be overwhelmed with sadness and I would never ever want to be the cause of her tears. Don't you agree?"

Dameon nodded his head and looked up at the sky as the rain began to fall.

When Yusuke and Hikari reached the doors of their apartment, Hikari frantically searched for the key to her apartment. She wanted to get in there before she started crying. Yusuke saw her panicking and knew it wasn't just because of a lost key.

Putting his bag against his front door, he walked over to Hikari and hugged her making her drop her schoolbag. Hikari was taken by surprise and the tears that she had wanted to keep back suddenly came out. She cried into Yusuke's chest only for a moment because she heard Oyuun's footsteps inside the apartment.

As she pulled away from Yusuke and picked up her schoolbag, Oyuun opened the door and looked curiously from Hikari to Yusuke. As she and Yusuke locked eyes, Yusuke remembered Oyuun's night job and immediately went to get his key out of his schoolbag.

Hikari picked up her things and rushed inside while Oyuun kept the door open for her.

"Hikari, there's some leftovers on the table. You can have the rest," Oyuun said and left.

She avoided the table completely and went for the fridge and cabinets. Pulling out some ingredients Hikari began to make tempura and chicken teriyaki. As she kept an eye on her dinner, she began to clean the rice while checking every few seconds to tend to the tempura and teriyaki.

The food was soon done cooking and Hikari set the table for just herself. Just as she brought her chopsticks to her mouth, there was a knock at her apartment door.

Home alone and having nothing to eat, Yusuke dragged his feet over to Hikari's place and knocked on her door. He heard feet shuffling and then the door opened. Hikari still had the chopsticks that she cooked with in one hand.

"Do you think I can have dinner at your place?" he asked while he rubbed the back of his neck out of embarrassment.

She sighed and stepped to the side to let him in. Yusuke had a wide grin and asked, "So what are we having for dinner?"

"**You're **having my sister's leftovers. I'm eating what I cooked," Hikari said. "Beggars can't be choosers and I only made enough for myself."

As he complained about having to eat leftovers, Yusuke realized something from drooling at Hikari's cooking. "You know, you're pretty Japanese," he stated.

Hikari looked at him as if he finally realized he was retarded. "Well duh, stupid, I'm pretty Japanese because I'm full Japanese."

He frowned at her and said, "That's not what I meant. I meant that you're pretty traditional looking at what you cooked for yourself. It's kinda amazing you can cook."

"My grandma taught me how to cook when I was growing up and her cooking style was pretty traditional, so that's why I cook this way. Then Oyuun and I moved out together since our grandmother wanted to travel the world while she was still able to and I had to cook for myself while Oyuun was working."

"Are you any good?"

"Of course! I've had years of practice on cooking! Japanese cuisine is my forte!"

"What about Mongolian dishes?"

Hikari stared at him in shock. It caught her off guard since he had asked about something related to her past. "Uh," she paused, "I know a couple dishes, but I only make it when I get nostalgic for when I was barely a toddler."

"Did your mom cook you Mongolian meals?" Yusuke asked curiously.

"Well, no. I was served Mongolian dishes," Hikari said while trying to remember things from back then.

Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Served? Were you some sort of rich kid or something?"

Furrowing her brow she said, "I don't... think so. I remember a bright white room. No windows, besides the one in the door. I think... I remember... I spent most of my time in there. A lady in white used to come in and feed me since I was too young to feed myself during mealtime. Every once in a while, this lady with long black hair and a clip board would come in and not say a word as she jotted things down."

"Who was she?"

"My mother, if I'm not mistaken, but these memories are so old and unreliable," Hikari said and resumed eating.

"You got any memories of your dad?"

Hikari put down her chopsticks and leaned back in her seat with her arms crossed. She looked up at the lit up ceiling as she tried to recall seeing anyone that would even be a possibility at being her father. But alas, Hikari could barely remember seeing any adult men around and so she shook her head.

Yusuke played with his food a little before saying, "Yeah, same here. My dad walked out on me and my mom when I was a kid."

"Would you ever want to meet him if you had the chance?" she asked with a curious face.

The black chopsticks with golden cranes on it were gripped tightly in Yusuke's hand. "Yeah," he said, "and I'd beat him up for leaving us."

He went on shoveling down Oyuun's leftovers and the two of them went quiet as a thick tension built up between them. When they had finished dinner, Yusuke threw his away in the trash while Hikari washed her dishes. As Hikari washed the dishes, Yusuke leaned against the kitchen counter and kept her company.

"So, would you want to meet your parents?" he asked.

Hikari lifted her gaze from the bowl she was washing to him. "Wha-?" she said at first.

He gave her an annoyed look and said, "Well you asked me if I wanted to meet my father, so I'm askin' you if you'd wanna meet your parents."

She continued washing the dishes as she thought. "I don't know. It's like, it'd be nice to find out who my parents are, but I'm not really up to going all the way to Mongolia just to find out who they are. I mean, once I meet them, then what? Go back home? It'd be a waste of a trip."

Yusuke got up off the counter and walked over to her couch where he laid down and watched television. "Thanks for the dinner," he said.

"Yeah, no problem," she replied as she turned the water off and went over to sit on the floor. "So I just thought you came over for dinner, why are you watching my T.V.?"

"Yours is bigger than mine."

"So? I could have stuff to do and all you're being is a distraction," she replied.

"Then just ignore me, duh," he said.

"Besides we got school tomorrow so get the hell out. I don't want you watching my T.V. while I'm in my room sleeping so go back to your apartment," Hikari said while getting up and pulling Yusuke off the couch by the leg. He fell on the hard floor and Hikari let go. "Come on, hurry up and get out already."

Yusuke got up off the ground and scowled. "You know you coulda been nicer about it."

As he dragged his feet over to his apartment just next door, Hikari closed the door behind him and just as she turned her back to the door, she heard someone knock on it.

_Oh it better not be that fag Yusuke. What the hell could he possibly want now?! I already fed the bastard! Grr…_

"What is it Yu-" Hikari began but was cut off by someone barging in and was knocked to the ground. "What the hell? You can't just rudely enter someone's apartment like that!"

The guy that entered her apartment turned around and looked at her pissed off figure on the ground. She saw it was that yakuza guy that used to fatten her up when she was young, Jin Yoshida. Hikari got up and closed the door.

As she fixed her clothes, she asked with a clearly irritated tone, "What in the world are you doing here? And how the hell did you find out where I lived anyway?"

Jin laughed and said, "Well you see… Ha-ha. I kind of came here on business."

Hikari looked at him and jumped to the worst possibilities possible as the tempura and teriyaki slowly went back up her esophagus.

_Jin, please don't tell me you're here because of my sister… Please don't tell me because you needed a female escort. I will lose all respect for you if you tell me that and I will throw up on your alligator skin boots… poor alligators._

"I never expected that I would be collecting money from you, Hikari," he said a little more seriously.

"I didn't borrow any money to begin with," she replied with relief that he wasn't here for the reason that had formed in her head.

Jin put a hand to his chin and said, "Really? I heard from the boss that the person that borrowed the money lived at this address."

"Wait until Oyuun comes home then," Hikari said as she walked to her room uncaringly.

"Oyuun, your sis?" he asked as he followed her. "You still live with her?"

_Does this idiot have no sense of personal space or places not to enter without invitation?! Stop standing so close to me!! Put that down dumbass!! Do not touch!! Annoying asshole…_

"I'm only fourteen, of course I still live with her," she replied as she glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "Would you quit touching my stuff? Can't you go wait in the living room or something?! A girl's room is a private place!!"

Jin laughed at her and said, "It certainly is a private place. I've been in so many since-"

"Shut up! Just shut up! And get out! Quit talking about gross stuff like that!! You know Mattias and Dameon would beat the shit out of you if they heard you talking like that around me!!" she yelled as she pushed him out of her room.

"Hey, should you really be using language like that? Like you said, you're only fourteen," he joked. "But even though I nearly shit my pants when they would yell at me, I kinda miss it. It's a good thing they have a little sister that takes after them."

Hikari was taken aback by surprise and accidentally stopped pushing him and Jin ended up falling back on her. "Agh! Get off me!! You're heavy!! You're gonna kill me!! I'm gonna die!! Looks like I'll be seeing my brothers sooner than expected!! Onii-samas, I'm coming!!" she said dramatically.

Jin took his time to get up and when he looked down at Hikari, he saw that she was faking a passed out pose. "Oh no, I killed the last of the Morinos, what to do? I guess I'll have to bury the body underneath the floorboards or something," he said monotonously.

Hikari suddenly brought her knees to her head and pushed herself up nearly hitting Jin in the process. She was about to yell at him when they heard the front door open.

"Hikari! I'm home again. Work was lousy, I mean, I know you don't like to hear about my work, but the guy just wanted to accompany him to some dinner with friends. What a loser," Oyuun rambled as she made her way to her room.

Hikari and Jin both watched and waited silently outside of Hikari's room for Oyuun to notice. Hikari wanted her to notice very soon because she really didn't want to hear about her sister's night at work. Oyuun walked back out of her room to make her way to the bathroom to wash up when she noticed someone else in the room.

"Oh- why do we have a guest this late at night?" she asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Still a bitch, I see," Jin said rudely.

"Well excuse me, but talk like that is not welcome in my home, especially from a stranger," Oyuun said bitterly. "Besides I don't even know who the fuck you are."

..._Yeah. Oyuun really is a bitch… and a hypocrite. "Talk like that is not welcome in my home," what a load of bull shit._

"You should watch who you're talking to, missy," Jin said with a pissed off tone. "The boss told me to collect some money that you borrowed. So if you don't mind, I'd like to collect that money and I'll be out of your dingy little apartment."

"Hey! I live here too you know!" Hikari yelled.

Jin cast her a you-know-you're-really-not-helping-me-out-by-saying-that look. Looking back at Oyuun, he said, "Just hand over the money you owe and everything will be okie dokie artichokie."

Hikari's eye twitched as she looked at the guy she once had respect for. That respect was now gone.

"I don't have the money yet," Oyuun said quietly.

Hikari looked at her sister and said, "I don't even get why you needed to borrow money from the yakuza in the first place! With your nighttime job it's like impossible to actually need to borrow money."

"Shut up, Hikari," Oyuun said. "I had to borrow some extra money to be more appealing to my customers-"

Hikari put hers hands over her ears and started shouting angrily, "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE SAYING!! LA LA LA LA LLAMA!! HOW NOW BROWN COW!"

Jin got angry and yelled at her, "HIKARI SHUT UP!! YOU AREN'T MAKING ANYTHING BETTER! OYUUN!! YOU BETTER HAVE THE MONEY WITH INTEREST OR ELSE THE BOSS WILL BE PISSED!! I NEED COLLATERAL TO ENSURE THAT YOU'LL PAY BACK THE MONEY!!"

Hikari heard that last part and raised her hand. "Take me!! Take me!! Forget collateral, I just hate living here!"

"Hikari!" Oyuun shouted while feeling slightly betrayed.

"Well sorry if I don't feel like living with a high-class whore!" Hikari shouted back.

* * *

I hope this one met your expectations. I seriously got stuck on it.


	11. Move Out To Let The Sweet Smell In

Hello again. This is Chapter 11. I hope everyone that reads this story notices that in the chapter scroll thing, all the chapters have titles. I have put thought into most of them to be creative. Also, in past chapters I picked quotes from other animes so yeah. I'm not going to say which animes because that spoils the fun.

**Disclaimer: **Yu Yu Hakusho does not belong to me. It belongs respectively to Toshirou Yogashi.

**Note: **_Italics _are Hikari's thoughts. And yes, I feel the warnings are necessary.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for adult themes, crude language, and minor language.

* * *

"Well sorry if I don't feel like living with a high-class whore!" Hikari shouted back.

Oyuun stared at her in disbelief and Hikari just glared back at her before running into her room to start packing. Jin stuck his head into Hikari's room and said, "Hey! You can't just decide things like that on your own! I didn't even agree to take you! The boss is gonna fry my ass for bringing you back! He's gonna all be like 'Oh, what's this brat doing here?' and then I'll be like 'She forced me to bring her just because she doesn't wanna live with her sister' and then he'll be like- Oof!"

Hikari threw her bag of clothes at him and said, "If he has a problem with me being there then I'll deal with it! Now carry my stuff pack mule!"

Jin glared at her and said, "And what if I don't feel like carrying your shit?"

Hikari put on that scary yakuza look, grabbed him by the collar, and said, "Carry my effing bags or I'll punch your ugly face in until I hear the bones crumble."

He just glared back at her and then when Hikari got fed up, she socked him in the face and yelled, "I SAID CARRY MY SHIT!"

The yakuza boss rubbed cheek and said, "Fine. Ya coulda said please ya know."

Before Hikari actually left the apartment, she grabbed her black metal baseball bat. She led the way out of the apartment without a word to her sister. Jin slung Hikari's bag over his shoulder and sighed as he followed her. As they walked out of the apartment, Oyuun ran after them.

"You better not come back until you learn to be appreciative you ungrateful delinquent!" Oyuun shouted.

Hikari turned around and shouted back, "Yeah! Well you better learn that you can make a lot of money AND keep your legs closed at the same time!"

Turning back around, Hikari stomped off. Jin muttered to her, "Hoo hoo, that was a nice comeback. Ha-ha your sister is all red and your neighbor came outside."

"Hikari!" Yusuke yelled. "Where the hell are you going! And who the hell is that guy!"

"Don't follow me!"

"At least go to Kur- Shuichi before running off with some guy!" Yusuke shouted.

"Hey! Watch it, kid!" Jin threatened.

"What do you want with Hikari?"

"I'm not the one making her come with me! She's forcing me to bring her!" Jin shouted as he headed back up the stairs to get face to face with Yusuke.

"Shut up! Cut it out both of you! Let's go, Jin!"

Jin gave Yusuke one last glare before following Hikari down the stairs. When they were by the sidewalk, Jin looked over to Hikari's apartment and saw that Oyuun was still standing outside. Pointing a finger at her, he shouted, "I'll be back in four days to collect the money. If you don't have it by then I'm taking you to the boss!"

Jin unlocked the doors of his foreign car and Hikari got in. "Jin, I thought you were the boss," she said as she buckled up.

"I am, but you should know that there's the head of the entire family."

"Yeah, I know, but it's just weird when you say you've got a boss when you are a boss," Hikari explained as Jin started the car and she rolled down her window.

"Hey! Don't stick your head out the window! Do you want your nose to get cut off?" Jin scolded as he pulled her back in by the back of her shirt.

"You make it sound like the nose is the most important part," she pointed out.

"Listen, Hikari. Can't you just stay with someone else? Like your neighbor! He obviously cares. Or that guy that he mentioned," Jin tried persuading her.

"No. You told me that my brothers told you to check up on me every now and then. Since my sister drove you away, this is to make up for lost time."

"That was nine years ago! Why can't you stay with anyone else?"

"My neighbor is an idiot, there's no way I'm going to live with Oyuun, and I'd rather not live with my cousin."

"You even have actual family! What's so bad about living with an actual relative? It beats living with some yakuza scum."

"I'm not used to having parents so I don't wanna stay somewhere where I get treated like I'm someone's child, and besides," she said, "you knew my brothers too."

"Geeze kid," Jin said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Nine years and you're still not over them."

She shrugged and said, "It's not my fault I wasn't raised like other children. I liked my brothers."

Jin parked the car and said, "You, stay in here. I'll be back."

Hikari looked out the window to the building they were parked in front of. "Where are we?"

"It's a gambling house. I'll be back in about an hour so just sit tight," he said as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

"You can't just leave me in here for an hour! Do you know how bored I'll be! I can't even leave the radio on or else the car battery will die!"

"Take a nap then. Kids like naps right?"

"I'm fourteen! I hardly need them anymore!"

"God you're so stubborn. Okay. Uh let's see," Jin said as he thought. "I can't bring you inside since well I'd rather not."

Despite her age, Hikari pouted and said, "Please? I don't wanna be bored."

Jin gave in to her puppy dog look and said, "Hurry up. Let's go."

Hikari jumped out of the car and followed him. "Is it really good to be that easily persuaded for someone in the yakuza? I mean, you didn't even collect any money from Oyuun, and you caved into bringing me with you. Not to mention that you're bringing a minor into a potentially dangerous place."

"If you know all this, then don't go!" he shouted.

Hikari smiled and said, "No way. This is more fun."

Instead of actually going in the building they were parked in front of, they walked between that building and the one next to it. It was a tiny alleyway and Hikari had to walk sideways. It made her a little claustrophobic so she tried looking up at the sky, which was now a dark blue color only slightly illuminated by the moon.

"Jin, how much further?" Hikari asked as her breathing got a little heavy.

"Just a little more," he replied. "Almost there."

They finally arrived at the back of the building and Hikari was able to sigh in relief.

"Hey, what the hell kind of a gambling house is this? Hey, wait a minute. Isn't this," Hikari said while looking up at the large building, "the museum? What's a gambling house doing disguising itself as a museum?"

They walked to a door leading underground, below the museum. "I know you aren't that dense Hikari. We're not really going to the museum. The gambling house is underground and the only way to get to the gambling house is through a pathway underneath the museum."

Jin pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door. "Now Hikari," he said in a mature tone.

"What?" she replied rudely.

He frowned and said, "I don't want you talking in there or we could end up getting in a lotta trouble, and I ain't just talking about the people and the other gang members who are gambling. I'm talking about with the family too. Do you understand what I'm saying? The family is the most important thing to me."

As Hikari looked up at Jin, who was standing in the moonlight much like a superhero or a ninja, she regained her lost respect for him. She nodded and as he opened the door she asked, "So do you have an actual family, Jin?"

"Actual family?" he asked as they walked down some steps after closing the door behind them.

"Yeah, you know," she replied, "significant other and, or, kids."

He laughed and asked, "How old do you think I am!"

"Twenty-nine," she replied honestly and he gaped.

"I ain't that old kid! Geeze!"

"Well, how old are you?" Hikari asked.

"I just turned twenty-four," he replied slightly embarrassed that he was mistaken for being five years old than he actually was.

"You were fifteen when you joined the yakuza?"

He nodded and said, "Ha-ha. Yeah, I didn't have a mom growing up and my old man got fed up so I ran away. I was lucky to get taken in by some yakuza members."

They were at the bottom of the museum cellar when Jin said, "Stick close Hikari and remember, don't talk."

They walked passed some dusty shelves that held some tool boxes and broken frames. Hikari nearly screamed when she almost walked into a cobweb. Hikari and Jin walked down a shady hallway lit by a single flickering ceiling light.

As they approached an open room brought to life by lanterns and regular floor lamps. Jin led her in and the other guys teased him.

"Ha-ha. What is this, bring your daughter to work day?" one of them said and the others laughed along.

Jin faked a laugh and said, "Nice one, but I'd be ten when she was born."

"Hey, it ain't impossible for someone to knock up their baby-sitter!" All of them erupted in laughter and Hikari just bit her tongue to keep from yelling.

Hikari and Jin took a seat on the tatami mat floor and waited for the game to begin. Once the dice roller entered the room, Hikari fell asleep and stayed asleep despite all the yelling that was going on.

Later in the night, she woke up shivering. It left her very disoriented and worried to wake up in a sofa chair in a dark room brightened by nothing besides the moonlight from the window and a desk lamp in the far corner. From the shadow, she saw that someone was sitting at the desk.

"Uh, hey," she said quietly trying to get their attention.

"Oh, Hikari, if you need to use the bathroom, it's out the door, turn right and third door to your left."

_Uh. Thanks... I guess, Jin... even though that's not really what I was wondering about._

"Uh, Jin, where are we now?"

He turned around to look at her and said, "This is the family's headquarters. You'll hear 'Oyabun' being used a lot more here. You know who the Oyabun is right?"

"The boss of the family," Hikari said with a yawn.

"Good. He's a pretty good guy. He's pretty scary though for an old man. He'll like you though Hikari. He likes little kids."

Unfortunately Hikari got the wrong impression and said, "I think I'll just stay in this room. I don't think I wanna meet the Oyabun."

"What? Why- I didn't mean it that way! Geeze, fourteen-year-olds have such perverted minds."

"It's because of all those perverted old men that go around raping beautiful, innocent, young girls like me! I'm totally defenseless!" Hikari said.

"Innocent my ass," Jin muttered as he jotted some things down on a piece of paper.

Stretching in her seat, Hikari yawned and then got up. She walked over to Jin and asked, "What are you doing? Is that- poetry!"

Jin's eyebrow twitched and he said, "Yeah. Oyabun likes us to write poems to express ourselves in a nonviolent matter when we can't take it out on our enemies. He likes to put up his favorites in his office."

_Ha-ha! What is this?! This is like when mom's put up A papers on the fridge! Ha-ha! How stupid! This guy's an idiot for actually thinking hard about it! But I guess if the family means that much to him._

Hikari snorted and said, "How creative. Do you guys get to finger-paint too?"

He sent her a glare and then tapped his pencil on his paper. "So do you live here? Or do you have an actual apartment?"

"I don't have an actual apartment, but sometimes I spend the night with my girl. I pretty much live here though," he replied as he scribbled a few words in the margin of the page. "Are you hungry?"

"Uh, yeah," she replied rubbing her eyes. "Where's the kitchen?"

Jin stretched in his chair and then got up. "I'll show you. I'm getting hungry too."

He led her down the hallway and occasionally people would come out of their rooms and head for somewhere else. They turned down another hallway and into a well lit room. When Hikari took a look around, she saw men sitting around already in the kitchen.

"Hey," Jin greeted with a small yawn.

"Hey Jin, whose the kid?" one of the other yakuza members asked.

Jin nudged Hikari with his elbow and she glared at him. She gave an awkward bow and said, "My name is Hikari Morino, pleased to meet you."

"Morino? Why does that name sound familiar?" asked one as they stroked their goatee.

Jin laughed and said, "Hikari, go glare at them."

"What the hell do you think I am? A dog? But instead of barking I glare?" Hikari said annoyed. "Stupid idiot."

"Aw don't be like that. Just do it and they'll know who you are," Jin said. Looking at the other yakuza guys he said, "Her glare is so fierce. Ha-ha. I'm sure you'll recognize it in a second."

Not having a good night's sleep, Hikari was able to easily produce a genuine glare.

_Why the hell do I have to do this? Isn't it easier to just say who I'm related to? Is it really that hard to say two simple names? Geeze, Jin you freakin' crackpot._

"Ha-ha. Pretty scary for a young girl," the one with the goatee said. "We sure know that glare. It's easy to spot anywhere."

"So who's kid? Dameon or Mattias?" asked one with a lot of piercings.

"I'm not either of their child, you blind idiot! I'm their sister!" she yelled. "God, who knew some yakuza could be that blunt AND stupid."

They all erupted in laughter and the one with the goatee said, "She's got their temper all right! Brings back memories."

Jin grabbed a cup of coffee and Hikari raided their fridge for some microwavable food meanwhile cursing all the idiots in the world, like Yusuke. Instead of actual food she settled for strawberries and searched the cabinet for sugar and two bowls. One bowl was for the strawberries and the other was for the sugar in which to dip the strawberries in.

After washing the strawberries, Hikari took a seat next to the guy with the piercings and began to eat.

"For a scary lookin' kid, you like sweet stuff, huh? Hey, isn't that a little too much sugar to eat with one strawberry?" said the piercing guy, whose name was Kino Kanou.

Hikari gave him a blank stare as she rolled her strawberry around in the sugar and then took a bite out of it.

Kino looked at Jin and asked, "Is it really okay to give a kid this much sugar?"

Jin just shrugged and sipped his coffee. "Hikari, do you have school tomorrow?"

She nodded as she nibbled on her second strawberry before dipping it back in the sugar. "I go to Sarayashiki. I expect you'll be driving me."

Jin sighed and said, "This is why guys wear condoms."

Hikari got pissed and threw the uneaten tops of her strawberries at him. "So Hikari, how are your grades in school?" the one with the goatee, whose name was Takumi Hitotsubashi, asked.

She ate another strawberry and said, "I rank number one in my grade."

Jin choked on his coffee and said, "Yeah, right. I caught you out of school leaving a pachinko parlor with a cigarette in your mouth."

"Just because you're stupid and can't come up with a good poem, doesn't mean that I'm bad in school. I do all my homework ahead of time," she said as she got up to wash her bowls in the sink. "I guess I'll go to sleep now."

Jin stood up and went to put his mug in the sink. "Come on, you're sleeping in a separate room."

Hikari was too tired to reply and she just let Jin lead her to the room. They arrived at the room right next to Jin's. He opened the door and a familiar smell wafted into Hikari's nose. She took off her shoes before entering and a bunch of forgotten memories rushed back to her.

She turned to Jin and asked, "Is it okay that I sleep in here?"

He simply nodded and said, "Yeah. I can't imagine you would want to sleep in another room besides this one. We keep the windows closed so that it'll still have their weird smell."

Hikari smiled and asked, "How come you guys didn't clear out the room?"

"Ha-ha. Everyone was scared that their ghosts would haunt us," Jin said with a hint of fear. "Well, get some sleep and I'll drive you to school in the morning."

She nodded and climbed into the well made bed and wrapped herself in the sheets and buried her face in the pillows. If Hikari could die, she'd want to die from being suffocated from the smell of her older brothers that was preserved in that room. When she fell asleep, nothing disturbed her.

The next morning, Hikari was woken up by the sound of the door opening and a thud on the ground. Her eyes fluttered open and they focused on the figure at the door.

"Come on. Hurry up and get ready or you'll be late for school. I hope you remembered to bring your school uniform," Jin said as he closed the door behind him. Hikari pulled out her school uniform and quickly changed.

She made sure she fixed the bed before exiting the room and shut the door tight. Before heading to Jin's room, Hikari quickly found a bathroom to brush her teeth with her travel toothbrush.

"Alright! Jin! I'm ready. Let's go!" she yelled trying to find her way around.

Jin came up from behind her and she followed him to the car. "Sarayashiki, right?" Jin asked as they got into the car.

"Yeah," Hikari replied still not used to the foreign car seating. Sitting on the right side was a bit awkward for her.

Within minutes, they arrived at her school, but before she got out of the car she asked, "Are you gonna pick me up after school?"

Jin sighed and said, "Yeah, sure. Here's my number. Call me when you get out."

Jin scribbled a number on a piece of paper and handed it to Hikari. She took out the battery cover of her cell phone and stuck it there. Hikari got out of the car and Jin waited until he saw her figure disappear into the building.

As Hikari changed her shoes, someone greeted her, but she wasn't really paying attention.

_I really have no idea how whatever happened back at the apartment happened. It was so all of a sudden. Still, it's better this way… Right? Wha- Who's calling me? I hear my name… Oh!_

"Oh hey, uh…" Hikari said while forgetting the guy's name again.

"It's Kira Sayaki," he said with a smile. "I was trying to get your attention when you were getting out of the car, but you seemed pretty distracted. Was that a foreign car you got out of?"

She nodded and said, "Yeah. A friend dropped me off at school."

They both walked up the stairs to get to class and Kira said, "Kinda suspicious isn't it? I mean, he could be part of the yakuza or something. Is that really safe?"

Hikari shrugged and said, "My brothers were part of the yakuza."

Kira went wide eyed and said, "That's… interesting. They aren't part of it now?"

Hikari shook her head and said, "They died nine years ago."

"Oh, sorry," he replied. "Did they get shot during work?"

Hikari frowned at him and said, "No. They left for a war in another country and they died there."

"Sorry again. It must be a difficult subject."

Hikari was crying on the inside.

_Why do you have to bring that up? Even though you're such a good looking guy, I'm starting to hate you for making me bring up my brothers. Besides, not all yakuza are that bad. Hah! Riiight. Anyway, it's not like just because my brothers were yakuza and I know some guys, doesn't mean I'm part of the yakuza too. I mean, sure I act like one sometimes, but I can be pretty nice sometimes too. Anyway, good looking guys like you shouldn't bring up depressing matters._

They arrived at their classroom and someone ran up to Kira. Figuring she had nothing to do with it, Hikari went to her seat. She was placing her workbooks in her desk when her hand came across something taped to the top of her desk. She pulled it out and saw an envelope.

Curiosity getting the best of her, she opened it right there. Looking at it, she saw it was a very poorly written love note.

_Dear Hikari… I've admired you from afar ever since you've transferred into this school. Your tough exterior makes you stand out from the other girls. I never really see you talk to anyone at this school besides that idiot Yusuke Urameshi and the retard Kazuma Kuwabara. There's also that pretty boy, Kira Sayaki, but it doesn't seem as if you're interested in him. I'm not in your class if you're wondering, but there's a lot about you that I like from what I've observed. You get the top scores in our grade, so not only can you kick ass but you're smart too. You're my dream girl and my heart burns for you and I wish I could have the pleasure of talking to you at least once. Sincerely, your secret admirer._

Hikari burst out laughing and pounded her fist against her desk. "What the hell is this! Ha-ha! What a joke! Ah-ha-ha-ha!"

Kira ran over and asked, "Hikari, are you okay?"

Hikari held her stomach as she laughed uncontrollably and held out the love note to him. "What a crappy love letter! What's the use of it if you don't put your name! Ha-ha! This guy's an idiot! 'My heart burns for you' ha-ha! What a pile of shit! Maybe he ate some spicy food while writing this and got an actual heart burn! Ah-hah!"

"I'm a pretty boy?" he questioned uncertainly as he handed her back the letter and took his seat behind her.

Suddenly someone came bursting in the classroom. "Hikari! Is she here?!"

"Uh yeah. Over there, at her seat," said the guy that was talking to Kira.

Hikari could barely hear stomping over her insane laughter, but then she was grabbed by the collar and brought to her feet.

"What the hell! You just left last night! I went to your place this morning and your sis said that you moved out! What the hell is that Hikari!" Yusuke shouted angrily.

Hikari wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and calmed down. "It means just that. I moved out. I don't live with my sister anymore."

He let go of her and asked, "Well then where the hell do you live?"

She shrugged and said, "Somewhere in Shinjuku I'd say. I didn't exactly pay attention to the drive here."

"Who you livin' with? You runnin' away with that guy from last night?"

"Guy from last night?" Kira muttered.

"If I were running away then I would obviously stop going to school, dumb ass. And no, he's my brothers' friend and I forced him to let me stay with him. I stay at HQ in my brothers' room."

Yusuke smirked and said, "Shit. Gettin' me worried like that. I guess it only makes sense you'd go there instead of going to Shuichi."

"Who's Shuichi?" Kira whispered to himself.

"I just hope with me staying in their room, their well preserved smell doesn't fade," Hikari said while looking out the window just in time to see someone get mugged behind a tree.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I know it probably seems like it doesn't have much to do with Yu Yu Hakusho, but it'll tie in eventually.


	12. A Punch and A Love Letter

Hello everyone. Here is Chapter 12. I hope as always that you enjoy it. When I was looking it over in the Document Editor thing, some of the words didn't have spaces between them, so if you're wondering, it's not because my English is that bad. Not this time anyway. In any case, please enjoy.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for violence and crude language.

**Disclaimer: **I own who I own. I own not who Yoshihiro Togashi owns.

**Note: **In case anyone forgets, _italics _is Hikari's thoughts. Also, I had to edit this chapter after I had realized that there was an inconsistency in what characters know and don't know.

* * *

"I just hope with me staying in their room, their well preserved smell doesn't fade," Hikari said while looking out the window just in time to see someone get mugged behind a tree.

The school bell rang, which meant that Yusuke had to leave Hikari's classroom. "Hey, I'll tell Shuichi what's up. I called him last night and he was seriously worried that you were being held hostage or something."

"Yeah, thanks."

"It's not like I'll be going to class anyway."

"YUSUKE! WHERE ARE YOU!" yelled a girl's voice.

"Sounds like Keiko's lookin' for ya. Are you gonna hide? It doesn't seem like a good idea if you hide or else it's all gonna be bottled up and then one day she's gonna explode and you'll be in deep shit."

He shrugged and said, "Maybe I'll just sneak out of the classroom and avoid her and then sneak into my class."

Yusuke leaned on Hikari's desk and the two of them gazed out the window.

"Ahem," the teacher cleared their voice. "I'm glad you're in school, Mister Urameshi, but your class is the one next door, so if you could please go to it."

"Yeah, right," Yusuke said as he stood up straight and walked out the door.

First few classes went by agonizingly slow for Hikari since every ten minutes she would wake up. But then when fourth period came around, Hikari felt like she was able to completely knock out in that class. Within the first ten minutes of class, Hikari was slowly nodding off to sleep. She tried to stay a little conscious to try and count the seconds that it would take her when suddenly she was poked in her side and she nearly jumped out of her seat. With her drowsy eyes, Hikari turned around to look at Kira.

"Huh? Wha?" she mumbled with a small yawn.

Hikari looked at his slightly nervous face as he held out a small piece of paper for her to take.

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand as she just looked at the piece of paper. "Dude, you're a freakin' weirdo for writing a note in this class. We could set our desks on fire and throw them around the classroom and it won't make less of a difference."

He didn't say anything and kept gesturing for her to take it. Taking the piece of paper from his hands, Hikari saw Kira turn a slight shade of red. She unfolded it and read it to herself.

_What is the relationship between you and Yusuke Urameshi?_

Hikari slowly turned her head towards Kira with a dead serious expression. "I'm actually a host and Yusuke is my most demanding client. I've told him that I'm just doing my job, but he wants to become serious with me."

All the color from Kira Sayaki's face seemed to have drained right out of him.

"I'm joking."

Kira snapped back to reality. "What?"

"Geeze, you think that guy can afford to spend money on a host? I can't believe you wasted paper just to ask a stupid question like that! Do you know you have just killed a tree! A poor helpless tree that has been cut down in its prime! Do you hear me! Prime, I say, PRIME!"

Despite her overly dramatic outburst, Kira kept a straight face. "So what is the relationship between you and Urameshi?" he asked.

"We're friends duh."

"Who's Shuichi?"

"My cousin."

"Hey, Hikari."

"Yeah?" she asked while putting her head down getting ready to go to sleep.

"Wanna grab a bite to eat with me after school?"

Hikari sat back up and stared at him. Her mouth opened to say something, but the bell rang. Before the teacher could leave the classroom, Yusuke and Kuwabara burst in and knocked the teacher over. The two buffoons ran in and grabbed Hikari and ran away with her in their firm grip.

"Hey! What the hell you guys! What's going on! Is it really necessary to kidnap me!" Hikari yelled as she was being dragged through the halls and up the stairs.

Kuwabara and Yusuke ignored her and pushed open the doors to the rooftop, where they finally let her go. Hikari was painfully dropped on her butt. As she stood up, she brushed herself off. "Shit, you guys. You coulda just told me that you wanted to go up here and I woulda gone. Didn't have to pull me up three effing flights of stairs!"

"We've got another mission," Yusuke said ignoring Hikari's complaining.

She frowned and asked, "What is it?"

"There's a demon around here," he replied.

_Yeah, Shuichi. Hiei too._

"It's someone that we don't know."

_Oh. Well then..._

"Koenma said that the demon is somehow hiding their demonic energy, so it's hard to find him," Kuwabara added.

"So what then? What are we supposed to do if we can't find him?" she asked.

Kuwabara and Yusuke stared at her. "..."

The two of them looked at each other and said, "Well I guess we can't do anything about it then."

Hikari scratched her head and said, "You guys are real idiots, you know that?"

"But it doesn't mean we shouldn't be on our guard," Yusuke said.

"So what are we gonna do?" Kuwabara asked while looking between the two of them.

Hikari crossed her arms in front of her chest and began to think.

_I guess... if we can't find him... I guess we have to lure him out and have that demon present himself to us... Ha-ha. Hikari, you're so smart._

Chuckling to herself, she looked at the two boys with her eyes beaming with confidence. "I've got it."

"Yeah? And that is?" Yusuke replied with a bored expression plastered all over his face.

"We lure him out. Make him expose himself to us," she said with an accomplished smile on her face.

"And how do we do that?"

Hikari was stumped.

_...Yeah, how DO we do that? Uhh... Quick! C'mon Hikari think of something! Hurry!_

"Who do you think I am! Someone who thinks for you! Your minds will disintegrate if I do all the thinking for you!" she yelled at them.

"Tch... She's only saying that because she can't think of anything," Yusuke whispered to Kuwabara with his back turned to Hikari. "AGH!"

Yusuke was met by a flying kick to his back. "You idiot! I can hear ya, you know!" Hikari said as she straightened out her skirt.

The doors to the roof suddenly opened and there stood an angry looking Keiko. "Yusuke Urameshi! You skipped out on class again!"

Yusuke stood up while holding his back. "Crap. It's the other demon."

"What?! Who are you calling a demon?!" Keiko yelled as she stomped over to the green uniformed childhood friend.

Hikari sighed and searched her skirt pockets for something. Finding her cigarettes and lighter, she lit up and began smoking. Hikari exhaled the unhealthy grey smoke and said, "You know, you should just try not saying things to yourself. I think you're a little deaf so you might be talking louder than you think you are since you might think people can't hear you when they actually can."

"Why you-!" Yusuke was about to stomp over to her, but Keiko pulled him by the ear and dragged him back to the stairs. Hikari and Kuwabara just followed behind them at a safe distance.

Hikari parted ways with the three of them and returned to her class. As she walked to her desk, she noticed Kira looking out the window with a gloomy face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked as she sat down in her cold seat.

The boy seemed to snap out of his own world and stopped looking at the vast view of the city to turn his gaze towards Hikari.Kira smiled and said, "Oh, nothings wrong. So what were you getting kidnapped for?"

Scratching her cheek, Hikari thought of an excuse. "Oh that? They just wanted to know the secret to beating level 47 in this game that I let them borrow. I've beat the game about thirty times and so I pretty much know all the passwords and secret weapons and stuff. You see, in level 47 there's this power up in the King's castle, but it's hidden in an empty room. The power up is underneath the floorboards, which is something that those two idiots would never understand due to their small brain capacity."

Kira stared at her with the blankest expression in comparison to her completely humble one.

_Ha-ha. That was good. I don't even have any new video game consoles. Hell, the newest video game I got was for the Gameboy Color. Yeah. Poke-- Yel-- was cool. Wow, I'm lame._

To try and seem interested, Kira asked, "What's the game called?"

_Oh shit. You jerk. Damn uhh..._

"It's called... _Night By Night_," she said pulling lyrics from a song. "Yeah. It's a pretty fun game. It's really old, which is why I've had time to play it so many times. My brothers' friends created it for the Gameboy."

"G-Gameboy? That's pretty old," he said with a small laugh. "You think I could play it once?"

Hikari shrugged and said, "Sure, when they're done, but if they're only on level 47, it's gonna be a while."

"How many levels are there?"

"Uhh, about 147," Hikari said while counting off her fingers.

_Please. Just stop asking about this nonexistent game. It's exhausting me._

"Or maybe it was 371... Well it's somewhere around there," she said with a laugh.

He decided to change the subject. Kira asked, "So, can you grab a bite to eat with me later?"

_...No guy has ever asked me out to eat with him... Is this like a date or something? A date with a really cute guy? My brothers always warned me when I was young to be wary of people, especially of the opposite gender if they weren't relatives or really close friends. But this guy isn't really a close friend. So, what do I do? ...Waaah! I'm sorry really cute guy, Kira, but I cannot go out on a date with you._

Instead of saying that, Hikari lied andsaid, "Oh. Sorry. I can't. I've just moved somewhere else, so I want to be home early so I'm not a burden."

Kira put on a sad smile and said, "Maybe next time."

"Yeah, next time," she repeated and quickly pulled out her cell phone from her skirt pocket to send an e-mail to Jin. Just another lie.

_I've got club activities to go to after school. At the end I'm gonna quit. I'll call you when I'm done._

After sending the e-mail, she placed it back in its proper place and then the school bell rang. As class started, Hikari laid her head down on her arms, which were rested on the hard desk. She decided it would hopefully be the time to take the nap she so desperately wanted without being disturbed.

She was able to go the rest of her classes undisturbed. What woke her was the last bell of the day, along with the shuffle of papers and the sound of chairs being pushed in. Hikari took her bag, which hadn't been opened since she was at school, and went to the next door class.

As the young teenage delinquent waited for Yusuke and Kuwabara, she pulled out her cell phone to check if Jin replied to her e-mail.

_One new message. "Yeah. That works out fine. Oyabun is having me do something anyway."_

Hikari pocketed her cell as Yusuke and Kuwabara emerged from their class. The two of them had incredibly unpleasant expressions and Hikari wondered why.

"What's wrong with you guys? You look uglier than usual," she said as they walked to the front of the school.

"Takanaka made us clean the bathrooms," Yusuke said with a tone that made it clearly evident that he was put through serious torture.

"I don't feel clean," Kuwabara said shakily.

Hikari pinched her nose and stepped a few steps away from them. "Is **that** what that smell is! Geeze you guys reek."

They arrived at the front of the school, where Kurama was standing awaiting their arrival while surrounded by girls.

"Oh! I love your hair!"

"I love you!"

"You're so good-looking!"

"Are you a guy or girl?"

Away from the crowd and leaning against the school building was Hiei.

Hikari approached the group with an amused expression and she and Yusuke went to make fun of them.

They pushed their way through the crowd.

"Ooh Shuichi you're hair is so lovely!" Yusuke said with his best girly voice.

Hikari looked at him with starry eyes and said, "You're as beautiful as a rose."

"You're like the man of my dreams. I'd totally be head over heals if you'd throw a rose into the ground and said 'I'm Tuxedo Mask'."

Kuwabara, Hikari, and Yusuke both ended up on the ground laughing at that last one. Hikari was near tears while she had to hold her stomach from the pain of laughter.

The girls looked at them with disgust, especially Yusuke.

"Ew. You smell like ass," one of them said and the group of fangirls immediately dispersed.

"Well aren't you two enjoying yourselves," he said. "I'd like to know why you and Kuwabara smell so rancid, Yusuke."

They three of them had calmed down now and they stood up. "Takanaka made us clean the bathrooms."

Kurama took a step away from them and bit his thumb to keep from laughing. "I see," he said with a small chuckle. "Let's head to Koenma's, where maybe you'd be able to take a bath."

Within a matter of minutes, they had entered Koenma's palace and after Kuwabara and Yusuke both took showers they walked right into his office.

"I assume you're here for a full description of the mission?" he said. Koenma was in his teenage form. Hikari was more comfortable with him that way because it disturbed her when she saw a baby talking. Koenma talking with the pacifier annoyed her a bit, but she would survive.

"So, as you all know, there is a demon in your area, but unfortunately, we cannot track him by normal means due to the fact that he is able to hide his demonic power."

"Yeah, we got that. But how?" Yusuke asked impatiently.

"Instead of the usual, you guys finding him, he'll find you."

"Yes, even I figured that out earlier today," Hikari said just as irritated as Yusuke. "But how do we make him find us?"

"You won't have to worry about him finding you," Koenma said with a sigh as his eyes looked down at their feet.

"What do you mean by that Koenma?" Kurama asked.

"We have his escape on Spirit World cameras. The barrier wasn't able to keep him back, which means he can't be that strong of a demon. As he was about to make his escape, he attached a note to one of the cameras."

"Would ya quit beating around the bush! Can you just tell us straight out! It's bugging the crap outta me!"

Koenma closed his eyes and reopened them with his eyes dead set on Hikari.

"'I'll be having fun in the human world. I heard rumors of a **special **human that possesses more than just a unique scent compared to other humans. I plan to take her and make her mine'," Koenma repeated verbatim. "That is what the letter said."

"How long ago did the demon escape?" Kurama asked.

Koenma cleared his throat. The tension in the air was becoming thicker and thicker as the sugarcoated secrets were being pulled back to reveal the naked truth.

"Almost a year ago."

"Why didn't you tell us then?" Yusuke shouted as he slammed his desk on Koenma's desk. "This would've all been prevented if you just told us back then!"

"No, Yusuke," Kurama said with a shaking fist. "Koenma **had** to do this. Since Hikari is what the demon is after, then she'd have to be the bait. He finally traced her here, isn't that right, Koenma?"

"Precisely," he replied with a dark shadow on his face. "It's necessary to keep Hikari in public, but with you guys keeping a close eye on her."

Koenma looked at Hikari to see how she was handling all of this. Her bangs sheltered her eyes from being seen. Hikari's mouth was shut tight.Her hands were in shaking fists and her knees were locked.

Hikari felt like she was gambling and winning, until she lost all her money to find out she had been set up. She was pissed beyond belief. Her energy seemed to be drained out of her.She realized her knees were starting to hurt, so she bent them a little and swayed from side to side that made Koenma jumped in his seat a little.

"Even if I try to not be a bother, I still end up attracting some kind of mischief whether it's initially my fault or not. I guess being followed around by this type of shit is expected when you think about all the sort of stuff I've done," she said quietly with gritted teeth.

"Hikari, none of this is your fault," Kurama said as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She just gave a small smile and said, "Karma, that's what this must be. My life will be full of it to make up for the things I've done in just fourteen years of life. It's fine though. I'll make up for it."

Suddenly an unexpected punch was delivered to her face and she fell to the floor. Hikari held her red hot cheek and looked up in shock at Yusuke, who looked at her with a ticked off look in his eyes.

"Yusuke!" Kurama yelled angrily as he took his friend by the collar. "What was that for?"

Hikari stared wide eyed up at the teen who had his hand balled up in a fist.

"You talk so big! You make it seem like you're going out for a war and dying for a fucking noble cause! It ain't the end of your life or something!" he said and then grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up a little. "We're your friends, ya idiot. We're gonna help you."

He let go of her and she sat on her legs with her arms limp by her sides. They all watched her carefully as they waited for a reaction.

Tears formed in her eyes and she slowly started crying.

Kurama knelt by her side and stroked her hair in attempt to calm her down. She wasn't bawling as if she were sad, but just crying.

She pointed a finger at Yusuke and said to Kurama, "He hit me! I didn't even do anything! I was just talking and then he punched me in the face! Now no one will want me as their bride once they see an ugly bruise form on my delicate face! Only creeps will take me, but that's no good for me! It's all Yusuke's fault I'm hideous!"

"I really don't think marriage has anything to do with this," Kuwabara muttered as Yusuke walked backwards into him.

"No! I didn't mean- You're not supposed to cry! I didn't even hit you that hard!" Yusuke said with hand gestures.

Hikari kept crying and sniffling while Kurama patted her back. The large doors to the office opened and a blue haired woman poked her head in.

"I heard crying. What's wrong?" she said with her bubbly voice. "What's wrong with Hikari?"

Botan walked over to Hikari and placed her hands lightly on her shoulders. "Why is she crying, Kurama?"

Kurama sent a glare over to Yusuke and said, "Yusuke punched her in the face."

"What! Yusuke how could you punch a girl in the face?" Botan scolded. "Didn't your mother teach you anything?"

After Yusuke was punished for punching Hikari in the face and making her cry, they all stood around Koenma's desk once more to conclude the operations of the mission.

"Alright everyone. So all you really have to do is watch over Hikari and keep an eye out for any suspicious people. Before you all can go back, Hikari, is there anyone that you find odd?" Koenma asked.

Hikari nodded. Her eyes were puffy and red and her cheek was clearly swollen and you could see the bruise forming. She wasn't feeling as bad as she was earlier because she got her revenge on Yusuke.

"There's this guy in my class, Kira Sayaki. I also got a love letter from an anonymous person."

* * *

Oooh. What's gonna happen next! Keep reading and you'll find out! Please tell me what you think.Thank you for reading!


	13. Strawberries and Surprises

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while! I kinda had some trouble writing this, but it's kinda all good now! It's been a little over two weeks, I know. Last week was Spring Break so yeah. It was fun. Yesterday (Sunday, March 30) I brought three of my friends to Great America and then we went to my house to play Rock Band, and one of them just happens to be the guy I like so that was incredibly enjoyable. Really though, sorry about the wait. I hope you like this chapter though.

**Disclaimer: **No Yu Yu Hakusho characters belong to me.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for mild language.

"There's this guy in my class, Kira Sayaki. I also got a love letter from an anonymous person."

"What?! When did you get a love letter?" Yusuke asked.

"I found it in my desk this morning."

"Do you still have it?" Koenma asked.

Hikari nodded and searched her schoolbag for it. After producing the item in question, she handed it to Koenma who unfolded it and read it over. He folded it back up and placed it aside on his desk.

"If that's all, then you all may go," Koenma said.

All of them exited the room quietly to return to the human world. They walked back to Sarayashiki to keep Hikari company until she got picked up.

Hikari checked the time before she pulled out her cell phone and gave Jin a quick call.

"Hello? This is Jin," he answered, sounding slightly preoccupied.

"Hey. It's me. can you pick me up now?" she asked with a small frown on her face. She strained her ears to try and hear was going on in the background.

"Uh, huh, sure. Just stay put for now. It'll take me a while to get there. I'm kind of in traffic, but my exit is nearby," he replied.

"Alright then. See ya," she said and hung up.

They all sat around the entrance as other students began leaving the school. They had probably just finished their club activities.

As two students ran past the group with a little fear in their step, Hikari suddenly said, "I forgot to tell Koenma this, but Kira wanted to grab a bite to eat after school today. Although between him and the love letter guy, I still say the love letter guy is more suspicious."

"He asked you out on a date?" Kurama asked. Hikari grinned to herself as she could see out of the corner of her eye her red headed cousin's head snapping in her direction.

"I don't doubt that was his true intention, but either way, he asked me if I wanted to go get some food," she said with a sigh. Hikari pulled out her pack of cigarettes and before she could pull out a cigarette for herself, Yusuke grabbed one. After she put one in her mouth and put away her cigarettes, she pulled out her lighter and lit hers and Yusuke's cigarettes. "It's one thing that someone actually asked me out, but it's another that it's a good looking guy. Both are impossible."

"Thanks for the cigarette," Yusuke said. "It was much need-"

"I didn't understand something at Koenma's," Hikari interrupted. "How do you know that the demon is referring to me in the letter?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara both blinked in surprise and Yusuke said, "Yeah, I didn't get that either."

"Is it because she sprays perfume or something?" Kuwabara asked as he turned his head toward Kurama.

"Well, for demons, all humans sort of have the same scent or aura which is how we are usually able to determine humans from demons. Because I'm currently in a human body, I'm not really able to differentiate what makes Hikari's scent different from others although I am able to tell she is a human," Kurama said. He turned to Hiei, who was surprisingly still with them, and asked, "Hiei, could you explain what Hikari smells like?"

"Strawberries."

All of their eyes widened and Hikari blushed. She was relieved that she didn't smell bad or something.

"Strawberries?" Kurama repeated.

Hiei nodded with his eyes closed. "It's a strong scent of strawberries. The smell of human is hidden almost completely beneath it."

Hikari began to wish she was eating strawberries covered in sugar. As she was imagining the sweet sweet strawberries, a car pulled right up in front of them. Hikari looked up and saw Jin looking down at her with his sunglasses on the tip of his nose.

"Well, what are you waitin' for?" he asked. "Get in. Let's go. You've got homework to do."

Hikari stood up and brushed her skirt of all the dirt that she was sitting on and grabbed her schoolbag.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," she said as she ran around the car and accidentally opened the car door too fast so that she hit herself in the leg. "Ow, ow, ow..." she muttered as she got into the car.

Yusuke and Jin couldn't help but laugh at her. "Geeze you're an idiot!" Jin said earning him a punch as he put the car in first gear.

The guys watched as they drove off. The last thing they heard from Hikari was her ask, "Hey Jin, are there strawberries at home?"

They all walked off in the same direction with serious faces.

"Do you think her staying with yakuza is such a great idea?" Yusuke asked Kurama.

Kurama furrowed his brow and said, "I'm not sure. Having the yakuza around is certainly quite convenient if it's protecting that she needs, but from a demon... It's inconvenient if we're so far away."

Kuwabara scratched his chin and said, "Well the shrimp can just follow her again can't she?"

Hiei immediately sent a glare and said, "What do you think I am, you big buffoon?! Some dog that follows someone's scent all day? Only idiots do that so I'm sure you and Yusuke would be perfect for the job."

Both Kuwabara and Yusuke were trying to get past Kurama and get to Hiei. "Now, now everyone. Calm down," Kurama said. "It is troublesome to always count on Hiei to do things like following Hikari around, even though he is the fastest and most capable of the job since he has the Jagan eye."

Hiei kept his eyes closed and his back to the group. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he knew what Kurama was getting at. The demon in disguise was trying to guilt Hiei into doing it, but before Kurama had to go any further, Hiei turned back around in the direction Hikari was headed and then disappeared.

When Hikari and Jin arrived at yakuza headquarters, Hikari headed straight to the kitchen after she took off her shoes and tossed her schoolbag into Jin's room since it was the closest. Hikari pulled out the strawberries from the fridge and then searched for the sugar in the cabinet she had found it in last time. But it wasn't there.

Hikari panicked and actually took everything out of the cabinet to look for it.

Jin entered the kitchen wondering where Hikari had gone when he saw random cans and jars on the kitchen floor, along with an open cabinet, but no Hikari. He cautiously walked over to the open cabinet door and peeked inside. Two enormous veiny white eyes stared back at him. Surprised, he fell backward and scooted away from the cabinet.

Hikari crawled out, her eyes were big and teary now. "Jin... Jin there's no sugar!"

A big sweat drop appeared on the back of his head and he said, "S-so that's it. I'll go out and buy some sugar. Okay?"

Jin got up and dusted the dirt off of his suit. Hikari was still teary eyed, but she nodded and said, "I'll keep looking for the sugar."

"Alright. For now, keep the strawberries in the fridge so they don't get soggy."

Hikari nodded and first thing she did was put her precious strawberries in the fridge. Then she went on to working on putting the cans and jars back into the cabinet the way that she found them. Her tongue was craving the taste of the sweet strawberry coated in the always sweet sugar. It didn't take her long before she started searching the other cabinets for the other half of her super sweet recipe.

When she was trying to look at the higher shelves, Hikari had to carefully kneel on the counter top.

_Man... why do the ceiling and the shelves have to be so high and the floor so hard?! If I accidentally slip I'm gonna land on my head and it's gonna crack in two and then my brains will go oozing all over the floor!_

Despite being strong and tall for a girl, she had a slight fear of heights, which had many exceptions to the rule but that did not mean that the fear was any less. She raised one knee in an attempt to stand and then the other.

_Alright, take it slow Hikari. Now just start trying to stand- AH!_

Since Hikari was wearing socks, her left foot slipped off the edge of the smooth counter top.

Hikari waited. Waited for her body to meet the cold hard ground. But it never came and Hikari had even shut her eyes tight to brace herself. Instead, she felt her legs dangling in the air and she felt something around her ribs.

_!! Am I dead?! Or maybe I went straight through the floor headfirst and I got stuck right under my arms. IF I'M UPSIDE DOWN THEN THAT MEANS THAT MY UNDERWEAR IS SHOWING!! Oh well, I wear shorts under my skirt anyway. Or maybe I landed feet first... and then my feet are dangling above the lower level._

As Hikari contemplated these thoughts, she decided to open her eyes to find out.

_...I'm looking in an open cabinet. ... WHAT THE HELL?! DIDN'T I DIE OR SOMETHING?!_

Hikari looked down and saw two hands holding her right underneath the armpits as if she were Simba.

"You know, despite your height, I thought you would've weighed more," someone said from behind her.

The confused teen turned her head around to see the man that was holding her up. He was maybe early fifties and he was smiling up at her.

"KKKKKKKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

Hikari's scream was loud and unearthly. Many yakuza members came running to the kitchen wondering what had just happened.

The old man had dropped Hikari out of surprise and she immediately ran behind Kino, the guy with the piercings. Hikari felt that they had a lot in common since she too had a lot of piercings. She had one belly button piercing, one cartilage piercing on her left ear, and ten piercings altogether on her earlobes.

"That man's a pervert," Hikari muttered as she hid behind Kino.

"That man's the Oyabun," Kino whispered back.

Hikari felt like her life was going to end very soon in the very near future.

Luckily, the Oyabun was actually a very nice man, to Hikari at least. It was also true that he liked kids.

Now, Hikari was happily eating her strawberries with sugar that Jin had bought and the Oyabun was sitting right next to her, talking to Jin, who looked very nervous.

"I'm sorry about her wild behavior, Oyabun. She didn't know who you were," Jin apologized.

The Oyabun put up a hand and said, "It's nothing. Ha-ha. Her scream gave me quite a scare though. It was so high-pitched that I thought it was going to render me unconscious. Is she your daughter?"

Hikari heard what she said and, with a strawberry in her mouth, she glared at the Oyabun.

"Ah-hah," Jin gave a weak laugh. "She's fourteen, sir. I would have been only ten if I were her father. She's Hikari Morino. Mattias' and Dameon's little sister."

The Oyabun put a hand on her head and said, "Ha-ha. I should have known! The two were the same when the family first happened upon them. Say, little Hikari, do you like magic tricks?"

The fourteen-year-old turned her head in the direction of the man. She thought he was slightly senile. "I'm a teenager you know," she stated with a dry expression, unsure if he was serious or not.

The man just kept smiling and Jin whispered to her, "Just say 'yes' to him. It'll make him happy. Ignore the 'little' he put in front of your name. He's an old man to everyone."

Turning back to the Oyabun and said uncertainly, "Uh, yeah, sure."

He just kept smiling and when he flicked his wrists, a bouquet of flowers was in his hand. Hikari clapped, genuinely amazed. He did a few more, and the last one made Hikari incredibly happy. The Oyabun reached behind Hikari's ear and pulled out some money and handed it to her.

She had tears in the corner of her eyes. "Ten-! Ten thousand yen!" she said her eyes aglow and the biggest smile on her face. "Thank you grampa!"

The old man laughed and said, "Grandpa, eh?! Ha-ha! Alright then I shall be your grandpa! If little Hikari needs anything, she comes to grandpa, okay?"

Hikari felt as if she were a toddler. She nodded her head and waved the bill in Jin's face. "Look what grampa gave me!"

Jin wasn't sure if the old man Hikari was now calling "grampa" was the same guy that was known as the "Oyabun" who led the yakuza family he was in. He wasn't sure if Hikari was the same person either. He knew her to be rebellious and stubborn, just like her older brothers, but now she was just like a four-year-old that received presents from grandparents whenever they visited. Putting "little" Hikari and "grampa" together was a dangerous thing. Jin had a premonition that he would no longer be sane if his life was to continue down the path it was on.

'What has my life come to?' Jin thought lifelessly as the old man told Hikari embarrassing stories with many of them having to do with Jin's poems.

After the Oyabun left, Hikari was left in the kitchen with Jin. His head was resting on the table and Hikari was still enjoying her strawberries.

"That was embarrassing," Jin muttered.

"Trust me, it'll only get worse from here," she said finishing the last of her strawberries. "Now I can blackmail the shit outta you."

She washed her bowls in the sink and then she asked, "Jin, am I a bother to you?"

He slowly raised his head and placed his chin on the table. "What brought that up?"

She sprayed the strawberry strained sugar off of the bowl she was holding and said, "Well, I do have a conscience you know, and I was just wondering since I just imposed on you and all."

Jin's gloomy mood was replaced by a surprised one. Though she couldn't see it, he smiled. "You really are like them," he said.

Hikari quickly looked back at him for a moment before washing the rest of the dishes. "What are you talking about?"

"You're really like your brothers. You have their eyes, you've got their glare, and you act just like them. They've got bad tempers that you obviously have too, but you've also got that guilty side where you wonder if what you're doing is alright."

The girl wanted to shrink into nothing as she washed the dishes quietly, waiting for Jin to continue.

"Mattias and Dameon, mostly Dameon, would always wonder if taking you from their grandmother's to spend time with you was such a good idea. They'd wonder if that made you happy and if the other yakuza members were annoyed with a baby around. None of us minded though. You were a very adorable distraction from the world. Ha-ha. Your cheeks were so red and you were so chubby when you were a baby. When your brothers had to go out, you were left under my watch. You scored me a couple of chicks, Hikari, and I thank you for that."

The young girl gripped the dish she was currently holding out of anger. It was not the time to be talking about how many chicks he managed to get laid with.

"But you're no diaper-wearing baby anymore," Jin said and got up with a sigh. He walked over to her and gave her a hug. "You're a growing young woman going through puberty and your brothers would be proud! I think I'm gonna cry."

There was a big vein in Hikari's forehead that was about to pop, just like her temper. It was one thing to talk about getting laid with chicks, but it was another to tease her about growing up and going through puberty. Her eyebrow twitched, but she tried to ease her anger. Once he let her go, Jin wiped a tear from the corner of his eye as he headed out of the kitchen.

_Wow. I guess he really did mean it when he said that he was gonna cry. What a pussy. Oh... he didn't even answer my question._

"Hey, you didn't answer my question," she said with a slight frown.

All he spared her was a smile before walking to his room.

"Hey-!" she called but then the water started overflowing. "Ah!"

Hikari quickly turned off the water and let some go down the drain as she cleaned up the water on the floor.

"HEY!" she tried shouting for him. "YOU CAN'T JUST GIVE A VAGUE ANSWER LIKE THAT! I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT! HEY! COME BACK HERE!!"

After the dishes were done, Hikari took a bath and got ready for bed. She was in her pajamas and climbed under the blankets. Burying her head in the pillow, she filled her nose and lungs with an old familiar smell just before she fell asleep.

Hikari woke up the next morning before Jin had to come in her room and yell at her. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she checked the time on her cell phone. After letting out a long yawn, Hikari mumbled, "The hell? It's five in the morning, but damn I'm not even sleepy. I'm fuckin' wide awake."

Hauling her butt out of bed, Hikari dragged her feet all the way to the kitchen. She was slightly surprised to find the lights already on.

"Ah, Hikari! Good morning!" greeted Kino who raised a coffee mug to her entrance.

She winced at how loud his voice was and said, "Uhn. Yeah, morning."

He sipped his coffee and said, "Well you're obviously not a morning person."

She glared at him and went to the fridge for something to drink. "It's inhuman to wake up this early. I'm only up because I just woke up out of nowhere and couldn't get back to sleep."

"You don't seem awake."

Hikari stomped her feet and whined. "I'm tired! I wanna sleep! But I can't get to sleep!!"

"Alright, alright. Don't have a hissy fit, you'll wake everyone up and that is not a pretty sight."

Hikari's eyed zeroed in on an apple juice box and she immediately pulled it out of the fridge. She joined Kino where he was sitting. Poking the straw through the foil, she asked, "So why are you awake?"

He smiled and said, "I'm always up this early."

"Crazy," she mumbled as she bit on her straw.

"Not half as crazy as you are," he mumbled back.

"So what are you doing today?" Hikari asked as she drank her apple juice.

He shrugged and raised his mug to his lips. "Nothing. Maybe I'll go to the shooting range and get some target practice done."

"Oh! I wanna go too!" Hikari said.

"You've got school," Kino pointed out.

"I'll pretend to be sick!! It'll work!!"

Kino raised an eyebrow and said, "Not even. Besides, I don't even think you can fire a gun anyway."

Hikari scowled and said, "I'll prove it to you then. You take me to target practice and I'll show you I can fire a gun."

Kino laughed and said, "You're on. Let's make a bet though. If I win, you… have to… hmm… let's see… dress and act like a girl for an entire weekend."

"Well played," she replied as her eyebrow twitched. "If I win, every time I say the name 'Haruhi' you have to do the 'Hare Hare Yukai' dance."

"The what?"

Hikari grinned evilly and said, "Oh, don't worry. You'll find out soon enough, but now, you gotta take me and go target shooting!"

"Oh boy I'm probably gonna regret this," Kino mumbled as they both got up and made their way to his car after Hikari scribbled a note to Jin.

* * *

Yeah, I really hope you enjoyed this one.


	14. Betting the Gun

So yeah. I haven't updated in a while. I'm sure someone has noticed that. Usually what I do when I type a chapter is, I write it in an e-mail because sometimes I have to get off the computer I save stories to and go on my computer which has dial-up internet and is in my room. What happened though was that about two weeks ago my internet decided to stop working and there was an error. So then I ended up writing it all on binder paper. So please excuse me for not being able to update quickly. There was also a slight writer's block and you might be able to spot it. Anyway, please enjoy the chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Shoot. If I did, I'd be fired for not updating ha-ha.

**Note: **_Italics _are Hikari's thoughts and sounds (like gunshots and stuff). Jeri will be fixing my bad grammar and spelling mistakes later.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for violence, crude language, and "gang" related stuff.

* * *

"Oh boy I'm probably gonna regret this," Kino mumbled as they both got up and made their way to his car after Hikari scribbled a note to Jin.

"You ready to lose this bet?" Hikari asked as her hair blew in the wind. Sitting in a convertible car was sometimes fun, especially on hot days... until you know, you swallow a bug on accident, like Hikari did.

"Ha-ha. Maybe that's an omen saying that you'll lose this bet. If you give up now, you'll still be able to make it to school and I'll let this bet go off the hook," Kino said as some his small hoop earrings were thrashing about.

"As if! I don't care about being or acting girly for a weekend!" Hikari replied after she finished coughing up the remains of a bug. Kino kept laughing at her until something white landed in his mouth. Hikari pointed at him and laughed with tears rolled down her cheeks.

"HA-HA! YOU GOT BIRD SHIT IN YOUR MOUTH!!" Kino began spitting out the droppings while the car swerved dangerously.

When he had nearly gotten the salty taste out of his mouth, he wiped his tongue on his sleeve and said, "Pigeon crap is supposed to be good luck!"

"Yeah, it is, but that was no pigeon, idiot! Ha-ha!" Hikari said while continuing to laugh.

They arrived at the shooting range and Kino parked the car. He opened the trunk and pulled out a sports bag and he and Hikari walked in. Kino went to the front desk and dealt with the cashier. Hikari was minding her own business, when the cashier suddenly started shouting.

"You can't bring that kid in! She's gonna shoot someone!"

"If she was gonna shoot someone, wouldn't she have already done it?" Kino stated, posing a good point.

The cashier grumbled to himself for a moment, totally stumped. Kino had pinned him. The cashier said, "Fine! Go ahead! Both of you! But if she shoots someone, I'm not gonna say that I didn't warn you when the police when they come bursting in!"

"That's fine with me!" Kino said and Hikari followed him closely behind. Kino set down the bag and unzipped it. He took out a gun and loaded it. "Here. You can practice with this one for now. We'll begin after we've both warmed up a little."

Hikari took the gun he handed her and held it delicately. A few old memories rushed back to her as she held it.

_Yeah. It was a Glock just like this one. The weight is a little lighter, but I've gotten older and stronger._

"Hey Hikari. Guns don't go firing off by your imaginary telekinetic powers. You've got to put your finger on the trigger and fire," he said jokingly.

"Oh? Is that right? Like this?" she said and pointed the gun at him right between the eyes.

"Funny. Aim at the paper targets, not the people," Kino said. "Alright. Let's warm up and then we'll get to the details of the bet."

Both of them put on goggles and earmuffs. Hikari held the Glock with both hands and carefully aimed at the paper target. Her first lethal area to aim at was the solar plexus.

_BANG! One. BANG! Two. BANG! Three._

Hikari lowered her gun and looked at how well she did. Hikari frowned and saw that the hole had gotten considerably larger after the first shot. Kino placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Not bad kid. That's easy though," he said with every syllable dripping with arrogance and conceitedness.

Hikari aimed the Glock at him and said, "Would you like a bullet shot so hard up your ass it comes out your nose?"

A bead of sweat rolled down Kino's cheek and he replied nervously, "I'd like to remind you that that gun is real, and will kill me if you fire it."

Hikari put the gun down and said, "Alright. Let's finalize this bet."

"Okay. Rules. We fire five shots each. We're aiming at the spot right between the eyes. We'll mark it. We'll decide who the winner is by looking at how accurate the shots are and the size of the hole. The smaller the bullet hole, the better. We'll both be using these Glocks," Kino said as he held up two identical guns. "Sound fair?"

Hikari nodded and said, "Yeah. No sabotaging, and now let's go over the terms of the bet."

"Right. If I win, you have to be dressing and acting girly for a weekend," Kino said.

"And you'll dance the 'Hare Hare Yukai' whenever 'Haruhi' is said."

They both shook hands, sealing the deal. Kino then carefully marked both of their targets right between the eyes. After getting Hikari's approval, he asked, "Do you wanna go at the same time or different?"

"Take turns," the junior high school girl replied.

"Uhm, alright," Kino said with uncertainty in his voice. Resorting to such a kindergarten way of doing things was quite awkward.

Both of them carefully aimed at their target and fired their first shot. Afterwards, they both looked at each other and gave a nod before firing their next shot. Again, another shot and another nod of recognition. As they were carefully aiming for their third shot, Hikari was abruptly pulled backward and fired her third shot blindly. Out of the corner of his eye, Kino could see Hikari suddenly disappearing so he put down his gun and took off his goggles and earmuffs.

"What the hell are you thinking bringing Hikari here?!" Jin asked as he grabbed Kino by the collar of his shirt.

"We made a bet," Kino said and grabbed Jin's wrist.

"Making a bet with a fourteen-year-old?!" Jin shouted and then footsteps were heard.

"I've called the police! If you don't get out of here they'll arrest you!"

Jin's gaze shifted over to the old cashier. He shoved Kino away and advanced on the short balding man. "You... You allowed her to enter here! That guy ain't even her guardian!!" Jin shouted.

"I-I told that man that he wasn't supposed to bring that g-girl in there! I told him I'd call the police if she shot someone!!"

"That doesn't matter!! You called the cops anyway!!" Hikari shouted. Her goggles and earmuffs were placed on a nearby table and Kino's gun was already unloaded and stashed away.

"Do you know who the fuck you're dealing with?!" Jin said with his yakuza side clearly showing. "We're from the fucking Onizuka family and you let THE ONLY BABY SISTER OF OUR LATE ANIKIS INTO THIS PLACE?! "

"I-I-I'll c-call the p-police back!!" the cashier ran off and Jin turned back around to face the other two.

"Kino, grab the paper targets and your bag of guns. Hikari, come on. You're gonna be late for school, but we've gotta get you in your school uniform."

"Jin..." Hikari spoke softly as both she and Kino watched Jin run his hands through his hair with a frustrated expression on his face.

"Come on!" Jin barked. "Let's go!!"

Kino quickly retrieved the targets and rolled them up. Grabbing his bag of weapons, they all made their way to the parking lot.

"You're riding with me," Jin said to Hikari. She felt a little guilty and slightly scared of Jin now so she sat in the backseat farthest from Jin.

The ride home was quiet. Every now and then though, Jin would sneak a peak at Hikari through the rear view mirror. Her knees were pulled close to her face and she was hugging her legs tightly.

'Geeze. She looks like a kicked puppy, or a child that's been scolded for the first time. That look alone could just guilt me into saying sorry,' Jin thought to himself.

When they got home to headquarters, Hikari went straight to her room, bumping into people in the hallways and closed the door behind her. Jin entered a while after her. Takumi, the one with the goatee, slowly approached him.

"What's wrong with Hikari?"

"I got kind of angry earlier."

"What for?"

"Kino brought her to a shooting range when she's got school to go to," he replied.

Takumi's eyes widened and he said, "Well she said she was ranked number one so it shouldn't be a big deal, Jin. Ha-ha. Have you become something of a parent to her?"

"Mattias and Dameon would never forgive me if I just let her go to a place like that. They didn't want her life surrounded by violence."

Takumi blinked in surprise. "I never thought that you'd be taking care of her just for their sake."

"Ha, yeah. It's kinda foolish, but I owe my life to those two," Jin said and walked off to Hikari's room. He gave a light knock on the door. "Hey, Hikari. Are you ready yet?"

Opening the door quietly, Jin took a look in the room. She saw her small figure wrapped in the blanket and her hair strewn on the pillow. Looking down, he closed the door guiltily. Dragging his feet, he made his way into the kitchen.

"Ah, Jin. How is that poem going?" Grampa Oyabun asked.

Jin looked up without lifting his head and said, "Uh, yeah. It's coming along smoothly."

"Good. Good," Grampa Oyabun said as he exited the kitchen while giving Jin a pat on the back.

Jin minded his own business the rest of the day. He wanted to try and figure out what to say to Hikari. Maybe he had gotten a little too angry, but he had to be the responsible adult right? Hikari already had a bitch of a sister, an over-compensating grandfather figure, and cousin figures that want to show her cool but dangerous things. Not to mention, she had two late older brothers that were the only responsible people in her life. There was no way in hell Jin would ever be able to measure up to Hikari's brothers, but maybe Hikari would come to respect him. Either way, Jin knew he wasn't going to get any respect by scolding anyone. That would just make her scared of him, and that was the last thing he wanted.

That afternoon, Jin went out grocery shopping at the market. He was going to prepare a special surprise for Hikari.

Later that night, Jin was in an apron. He had flour all over his face and clothes, and there were also traces of egg whites in his hair.

A bead of sweat rolled down his flour caked face, making his face extra sticky. He carefully pulled out what was to become a cake from the oven with his oven-mitt covered hands. Jin placed it delicately on one of those plates that would make it seem like it was on display. As he wiped his hands on a towel, some of his yakuza buddies peeked into the kitchen.

Jin had tied a handkerchief to his head to keep his hair from getting in his face and was now beginning to put frosting on the cake. The entire kitchen was a disaster. There were broken eggs on the floor, a bag of flour had fallen on its side and its contents spilled on the floor, and there were two different piles of white substances on the table. One of Jin's buddies stuck his fingers in both of them and tasted it.

"What is it?" one of them whispered as the taste tester returned to the group.

"One pile is sugar and the other is salt," he replied with disgust on his face as he recalled tasting the salt.

They looked around the kitchen to look for more mess. When they had caught sight of a strawberry and an egg yolk stuck on the ceiling, they decided not to question and instead quietly creep away.

When Jin was finally done with dressing the cake, he took a moment to bask in its beauty and pray that it tasted good. Carefully picking it up, he made his way to Hikari's room. In the hallway, he met up with Kino, who had a slightly guilty look on his face.

Jin gestured towards Hikari's room with a slight motion with his head. "Knock on the door, would ya?"

Kino nodded and knocked on the door. Not receiving a response, Kino knocked once more before carefully opening the door. "Hikari?" he called into the dark room. Kino quickly found the switch and turned the light on. There seemed to be a sleeping figure in the bed.

Kino cautiously walked over and poked it. He expected some movement, but there was no reaction at all. Without hesitating, he pulled back the sheets and revealed a bunch of pillows.

Jin cursed underneath his breath and stomped off with the cake. Kino quickly followed him after closing the bedroom door.

"Hey, where the hell are ya goin' this late at night?" Kino asked as he followed Jin through the house.

As they approached the front door, Jin nearly shoved the cake into Kino's arms almost messing up the cake.

"We're goin' to visit a certain bitchy relative of the lil missy," Jin said slightly pissed off.

Jin quickly walked to his car and first opened the door for Kino before getting in the car himself. "Make sure that cake doesn't get ruined," Jin said before immediately speeding off to Oyuun's apartment.

When they arrived, Jin didn't take the time to park the car correctly, and just kept it running. He didn't even bother to shut his car door when he got out and ran up the stairs to Oyuun's apartment. He banged on the front door out of anger, worry, and hope. Jin was close to hitting Oyuun in the forehead when she suddenly opened the door.

"I have two more days to return the money. What are you doing here?" she asked already pissed off.

Jin pushed past her and walked into the apartment with his shoes on. "Where's Hikari?" he asked as he spun around looking for the junior high school girl.

"Hey! Take off your shoes damn it!"

Oyuun had just barely managed to finish her sentence before being thrown against the wall and the barrel of a gun pressed to the temple of her head.

"Where the **fuck** is Hikari?" he asked with a psychotic look in his eyes.

Oyuun frowned and eyed Jin's finger, which was settled threateningly on the trigger. "She's with you, remember? She went with you and left the apartment two days ago."

Jin put his gun away and stomped into Hikari's room. He switched on the light and scanned the tiny bedroom. "She isn't here? You haven't seen her?!"

"I just told you! Last time I saw her was two days ago!" Oyuun shouted at him. "Would you quit making a mess of her room?! You aren't going to find her here!!"

"WOULD YOU PLEASE SHUT THE HELL UP?! I'M TRYING TO ENJOY DRINKING!" yelled a female voice just outside the door. "Yusuke?! Where ya goin'?"

"Nowhere Ma! My friend is just in a little trouble right now. Get back inside the apartment," Yusuke said coaxing his currently drunk mother back into their apartment.

Jin ran out of Oyuun's apartment to meet up with the boy. Yusuke eyed Jin cautiously.

"Is it Hikari?" Jin asked.

"What's it to ya?"

Jin grabbed Yusuke by the collar and asked, "Is she alright?"

Yusuke avoided his stare and said, "She's unconscious right now and her pulse is dropping…"

"Where is she?"

"At a cemetery," he replied solemnly. "Two of our friends are already there."

Jin let Yusuke go and said, "Come on."

Yusuke followed and asked, "Where are we going?"

"The cemetery," Jin said as they approached the car. "Sit in the back. You've gotta give me directions to it."

They arrived in no time. Yusuke quickly showed them the way to Hikari. Kino had to take his time since he was carrying the cake. Jin didn't notice as it began to rain. He just ran through it. Kino had to slow down even more now and shield the cake with his jacket.

"Hey… HIKARI!!" Jin shouted as he saw a girl's body on the ground, supported by a red headed boy.

"Ku-Shuichi, how is she?" Yusuke asked.

"No good, Yusuke," Kurama said. "She's still out."

"Have the pulses started yet?"

_BA-BUMP._

"This isn't good. We have to get her to wake up," Kurama said while lightly slapping Hikari's cheeks.

_BA-BUMP. BA-BUMP._

Jin carefully looked at her face. It was completely devoid of color and her eyes were rolled back into her head. Her jaw was slack and her arms and legs were limp.

"We have to get her to a hospital," Jin said while trying to reach over to Hikari, but Hiei stepped in the way.

"This isn't something human medicine can make better," Hiei said bitterly.

_BA-BUMP._

"What the hell would you kids know?!" Jin shouted.

"I'm sorry, but you don't understand the entire situation," Kurama said choosing his words carefully. "You can trust that waking her up is our number one priority though."

Jin knelt by Hikari's head and tried to call out to her. "Hey. Hey, come on. Get up. I've got a special surprise for you. I worked on it the entire afternoon. Hey, c'mon kid. Wake up. This ain't funny. Hikari!"

"I'm sure if she thought it was funny, she'd be conscious and laughing," Hiei said.

Jin stood up and pointed at the short demon. "Listen, I'm sick of you and your smart-ass bull shit. Can someone tell me why the hell we're in the middle of the cemetery anyway?!"

"Take a look," Yusuke said as he turned his head to look at two graves.

Jin turned his head to look in the same direction. "Oh shit. Of course it's Mattias and Dameon. I should've known that she would visit her older brothers' graves and not Oyuun's place."

_BA-BUMP. BA-BUMP. BA-BUMP._

"…Hikari?" Kurama muttered while looking at his cousin, eyes full of worry and concern.

Jin looked back at the seemingly helpless girl when suddenly she inhaled and was conscious once more.

They watched as Hikari's eyes rolled around in her eye sockets, going in and out of focus. Her breathing was unstable and she started coughing. It was like she had just been previously drowning in the ocean. As her breathing regulated, the color returned to her skin.

As Hikari came to, she thought she was slightly senile. Her heart pounded painfully against her chest and her eyes went in and out of focus independently of each other. For a second, Hikari had thought her currently haywire eyes had caught a glimpse of two long dead men.

"Hey, Hikari. You okay, kid? Ya gave us quite a scare," Jin said as he knelt down next to her and patted her head which was wet from the rain.

She tried to move her arm to wipe her face, but her body felt so heavy and tired.

_What the hell happened? Why the hell do I feel like I just got hit by a big rig? And why is everyone here? Jin, Kino, Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama? What's going on?_

"What happened?" she asked, her voice weak.

Kurama was the first to speak. "Hiei and I were taking a walk around the neighborhood. We ended up passing by the cemetery so we decided to pay our respects to your brothers. We saw your body on the ground unconscious. It seems that you fell asleep and hit your head quite hard on the ground," he explained.

'There's no way she's gonna believe that… right?' Jin thought to himself.

"I see," Hikari said, completely buying into the lie. Jin mentally sighed.

"So why are Jin, Kino, and Yusuke here?" she asked.

"Shuichi called me since you weren't waking up. I guess, being a mildly good friend of yours, I went. This guy," Yusuke thrust his thumb towards Jin, "and your sister were shouting next door, which made my mom start shouting. When I told my mom to get back inside, I guess he remembered I lived next door."

Hikari gave a slight nod, when she turned to Jin and asked, "Now why are you all dirty? And is that a cake?!"

* * *

This is a lot longer than how much I usually write. I usually stop at like eight pages when I write in a word document. Anyway, thank you for reading.


	15. Slumber Party

Long time no read. I guess you could say I've been busy. Sorry for the wait. This chapter may seem really really lame and I'm sorry for that but almost any scene I write is necessary. It may not seem like that now, but just wait for it. It'll come around after a while. Ha-ha. Anyway, please enjoy.

**Dislaimer: **Yeah, I obviously don't own this.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for slightly adult themes and anything else you can find in here that doesn't qualify as PG13.

**Note: **_Italics _is Hikari thinking, but I think you got that by now.

Hikari gave a slight nod, when she turned to Jin and asked, "Now why are you all dirty? And is that a cake?!"

Jin touched his face, feeling the flour. He smiled and said, "Well, I spent the entire afternoon and evening making you a little surprise, and there it is."

Jin gestured for Kino to come forward with the cake. Carefully stepping forward, he placed the cake in front of Hikari.

Hikari looked at it blankly, as if not knowing what to do. Suddenly she wiped her eyes with her wet sleeve. "The hell's wrong with you?" she asked.

This question caught Jin off guard. "What?"

Hikari was crying now, and no one, even she, didn't understand why. "Kino just took me target shooting instead of going to school. You scolded me and now you brought me a cake! What's wrong with you?!"

The older man placed a hand on her head and stroked her damp hair. "Idiot. There's no reason to cry. I really shouldn't have gotten that angry earlier so I made you this cake to make up for it."

Hikari mustered up a smile and then stared at the cake and Jin stared at her expectantly. "Well?" he said.

"Well what?" she replied slightly irritated.

"Aren't you gonna ear it?" he asked while gesturing madly towards the cake. "I made it especially for you after all."

"I **would** if I **could**, but I can't if it hasn't been cut," she pointed out.

Kino shoved his hands in his pants pocket and pulled something out. "A switchblade," Hikari said unimpressed as she scratched her eyebrow. "Of course **you** have one."

"Yeah, yeah," he replied as he handed it to her.

She flipped it open and was actually impressed. "Oooh. I like this switchblade. It's easy to open."

Hikari carefully cut the cake. She cut a small piece for herself, and slid the blade under the piece to separate it from the rest of the cake. Holding the piece of cake in her hands, Hikari put the switchblade down.

Jin leaned forward curiously as she took the first bite. Everyone awaited her reaction as she chewed painfully slow.

"How is it?" Jin asked her.

As she was still chewing, Hikari covered her mouth and said, "It's good!"

After Hikari was finished her piece of cake, she washed her hands in the pouring rain before cutting a piece for everyone else. They all enjoyed their midnight picnic at the cemetery in the heavy rain. At least until the police showed up and they had to leave the rest of the delicious cake as and offering to Hikari's deceased brothers.

All of them, with the exception of Hiei, all had to escape in Jin's car. Kurama, Hikari, and Yusuke were all shivering wet in the backseat.

Jin looked at the three of them hugging themselves for warmth through the rear view mirror. "Geeze you kids are soaked," he said as Hikari let out a sneeze. "I'll take you guys to our house to let you dry off and shower. If you don't fall asleep before you've all taken your showers, I'll drive you home."

All of them entered the house dripping wet and Jin quickly showed them all the bathrooms where they could take their showers. Luckily, there were enough bathrooms to accommodate them all. Something that Jin didn't foresee were all three of the teenagers falling asleep during their showers.

After Jin and Kino had finished their showers, they stood around in the hallway waiting for someone to emerge from the bathroom.

"They're taking a long time," Kino said. "I mean it makes sense for Hikari since she's a girl, but the two boys shouldn't take that long."

"Did you give them all extra clothes to wear once they were done with their showers?" Jin asked.

Kino shook his head and asked, "Should I have?"

"Yes, you should have!" Jin barked. "You get clothes for the two boys and I'll get Hikari's clothes."

Jin picked out pajamas for Hikari to wear and went to the bathroom she was in. He knocked and opened the door a crack. "Hey, Hikari," he called. "I've got some pajamas for you to wear. I'm just gonna put them on the toilet seat."

Jin walked into the bathroom and noticed that he didn't see a shadow from behind the shower curtains when he put the pajamas on the toilet. "Hikari? You okay in there?" he asked over the loud shower. He thought it odd that he could see the water from the showerhead, but not the person taking a shower, not that he was having a pervert/pedophile moment or anything.

"Hey, Hikari!" Jin called out before pulling the shower curtains back. He slapped himself in the forehead and said, "Oh god you kids are idiots… How do you fall asleep in the shower?!"

Kneeling next to the bathtub, he looked at the naked teenage girl who was curled up in a ball preventing all areas besides her behind to be peeped at and sleeping soundly as the shower continued. Jin sighed and asked himself, "What the hell am I supposed to do? If I wake her up she's gonna think I was gonna do stuff to her in her sleep."

There was a knock at the door. "What is it?" Jin asked.

Kino opened the door a little and said into the bathroom, "The two boys fell asleep in the tub and I've got no idea what to do."

"Hah! It's the same with Hikari!" Jin laughed. "I guess turn on the cold water for them."

Once Kino closed the door, Jin stood up and said, "I guess there's no other choice. I'll have to get her in her pajamas without waking her up."

Jin turned off the shower and carefully draped a towel over her, making sure it covered the parts he didn't want to see. Jin bent over and carefully picked her up underneath her armpits while wrapping the towel around her. So now, he had a sleeping wet girl in his arms and was unsure of what to do.

He felt something wet seeping through his shirt and realized that her hair was soaked. So Jin grabbed another towel and for the time being, just placed it on her head. Spinning around in the bathroom, Jin was trying to figure out how to get her changed.

'Alright. I need to figure out a plan to get Hikari changed into her pajamas without seeing anything,' he thought while slowly moving from side to side with a slight bounce. '…For a girl her height she's incredibly light. …I'm babying her aren't I? Even slowly rocking her from side to side is something that I used to do when I had to baby sit her just so she'd take her nap. This is embarrassing.'

Jin brought Hikari and clothes to his room, thinking it batter better to not upset her older brothers' spirits if they were watching him. Setting her down on the bed, Jin made sure Hikari's towel was wrapped tight. He decided that the first article of clothing he'd attempt to dress Hikari were her panties. Being the responsible adult that he was, Jin decided to put on clothing in order of which private areas were the most private.

Moving her so that her knees were bent and her feet were touching the floor, Jin put her panties around her ankles and pulled them up to her knees. Hell, while he was at it, he dressed her in her pajama pants. Sitting her up, he sat behind her and pulled up her undergarments and pants, careful not to give her a wedgie.

'Geeze. I'm just thankful I didn't have to change her diapers. At least she was potty-trained when I met her. Helping her change her clothes when she accidentally wet herself was all but fun though,' Jin thought as he pulled the bottom of the towel out of her underwear and pajamas. 'This kid is still pathetic for fallin' asleep in the shower.'

Finished with the bottom half, he went to work on dressing the top half of Hikari. Jin laid her on her stomach with her arms stretched out in front of her. First he put her arms through the sleeves, and then paused.

'Wow. This would be a lot easier if she were a pillow,' Jin thought as he wiped a bead of sweat that was on his brow.

With a sigh, he rolled her over and sat her up. Slightly amazed that she hadn't showed signs of waking up, he pulled the undershirt down over the still-fastened towel, mindful of all her piercings.

Very cautiously, Jin managed to pull the towel from under her shirt. Finally done with the most puzzling thing he had encountered in a while, the last thing being the poem, he unceremoniously put Hikari in her pajama top and buttoned her up before carrying her out of his room, only to be met by Kino.

"Where are the boys?" Jin whispered while subconsciously stroking Hikari's head and rocking her from side to side again.

"I asked Oyabun and he said the living room was fine," Kino whispered back while curiously eyeing Jin and his paternal instinct.

"I guess I'll put Hikari with them too, as like a slumber party type of thing."

Kino looked skeptical at the idea, especially when Jin was acting like Hikari's guardian. "Are you sure? I don't think a slumber party is the same thing when there are two boys and a girl, Jin."

Jin peeked into the living and saw the two boys crawling into their futons. Handing Hikari over to Kino, he whispered, "Make sure she stays asleep."

With that, Kino was left carrying Hikari, balancing her on his hip while Jin stormed into the living room. Realizing that Jin was going to possibly start yelling, Kino went into the nearest room to keep the unpleasant sounds from entering Hikari's ears.

Jin flicked on the furiously bright lights and looked down menacingly at the two teenage boys. "You two," he said with a low whispered voice to keep from waking up anyone else, "how are you connected with Hikari?"

Yusuke pulled his blanket over his head and his muffled voice said, "I'm sleeping. Have fun Ku-Shuichi."

Jin focused all his attention onto Kurama, who found Jin just a little intimidating. Jin gave a nod of acknowledgement and Kurama began to explain. Kurama rubbed his eyes to keep from wincing at the light and said, "I'm Hikari's cousin, Shuichi Minamino. The one sleeping is Hikari's neighbor, Yusuke Urameshi. They go to the same school."

Shifting his weight from foot to foot, he asked, "And the other one earlier in the black?"

"Hiei. He's a friend of mine," Kurama said. "There's one more friend. His name is Kazuma Kuwabara. All of us hang out together."

Jin scratched the stubble on his chin and said, "Hm. I see. Well… then… have a good night's sleep. I'm just gonna set up another futon for Hikari in between the two of you. Good night."

Switching off the lights, Jin went to the closet and pulled out another futon and blanket. After he got a pillow, he called for Kino. "Kino, where are you?" he whispered loudly.

The nearby door opened and out stepped Kino still carrying Hikari. Jin gestured for Kino to pass him Hikari, and Jin switched the pillow for Hikari. "Pull back the sheets for Hikari so I can tuck her in."

Kino nodded and they both carefully tip toed into the living room and put Hikari to bed.

In the middle of the night, Yusuke suddenly woke up to something. Unsure of what it was, he reluctantly opened his eyes and was immediately met by surprise. It took Yusuke everything he had to not push her away and start yelling. He would've done it too, if he hadn't remembered where he was sleeping. Then he was met by a thought.

'She's not that dangerous looking when she's asleep like this. She looks quite peaceful,' Yusuke thought as he looked at the sleeping figure that was centimeters away from his face. 'What I want to know is why she's sleeping so close!!'

Yusuke slowly sat up and looked at their sleeping arrangement. Hikari's blanket was all the way at her feet and she was curling up next to him for warmth. He furrowed his brow at her idiocy and then reached over to grab her blanket so he could cover her in it, but then she ended up scooting to his futon and grabbing his blanket.

Yusuke looked back at her and was about to hit over the head, when he remembered all of the yakuza living in the house.

'What the hell am I supposed to do now?! I don't have a spot to sleep,' Yusuke thought as he looked at the girl occupying two futons. Yusuke decided that he'd risk waking her up as long as he got his own futon to sleep on. He grabbed her two ankles and attempted to drag her onto his futon.

"KYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAA!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU PERVERT?!" Hikari screamed into the silence of the night.

Instantaneously, the lights were on and the room was filled with yakuza members in their nightwear all pointing a gun at Yusuke, who carefully stood up with his hands up. Kurama quickly sat up looking at Yusuke, then over to Hikari, and then around the room to the gun bearing men.

"What do you think you're doing delinquent?!" shouted one of them.

"…The one that's talking should watch what he says… Hikari's technically a delinquent too," Yusuke thought.

"You perverted teenage rapist!! What do you think you're doing to the Oyabun's granddaughter?! Filthy!!" another one said.

'Somehow Hikari ended up as the Oyabun's granddaughter… and Yusuke is now a rapist? These guys are unbelievable,' Kurama thought.

One of them stepped forward and grabbed Yusuke by the collar. "Do you know what we usually do to punks that mess with the yakuza?" he asked. "Most of them end up in the Tokyo Bay."

Just then, Jin walked into the middle of the circle of gun pointing and made the guy that was grabbing Yusuke by the collar step back. Jin circled Yusuke and said suspiciously, "Now I know that you're probably a close friend of Hikari's or you wouldn't have tried to stop her when she was leaving her Oyuun's apartment that night. Not to mention, there is also what just happened earlier tonight when Hikari was passed out at the cemetery. Now, tell me… what were you doing to the little missy here?"

"First make all these thugs lower their guns," Yusuke said. "I don't wanna get accidentally shot for telling the truth."

Jin gestured them to lower their guns. "Now explain," Jin demanded.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and her face was close to mine. I sat up trying to find out why she was sleeping so close to me when I saw her blanket was at her feet. I reached over to try and grab her blanket, but she ended up scooting over and taking my blanket," Yusuke explained while trying to keep his voice down. "Well of course I'd want to sleep on my own futon, so I decided I'd move her and just let her take my futon."

Yusuke and Jin both had hard and unbreakable glares towards each other. Turning his back to Yusuke, he said to everyone, "Let's all get some sleep."

"You're just gonna let him go like that without getting hit or anything?! That's our anikis' baby sister and Oyabun's granddaughter we're talking about here!!" the one who grabbed Yusuke by the collar said.

Jin hit him over the head and said, "You're the one who is gonna get punished if you don't go to bed!! Everyone… go to bed!!"

All of them slowly shuffled out of the room, leaving Jin with the teens. Jin went over and turned off the lights and began to walk out of the room.

"Hey," Yusuke said stopping his savior in his tracks. "You actually believed me?"

Jin looked over his shoulder and asked, "Are you saying I should've let them shoot you?"

"Of course not!" Yusuke said loudly but then realized that everyone was probably asleep by now. "You just dismissed it so easily though."

"I'm sure Hikari would be a little sad if she found one of her buddies was missing," Jin said quietly before walking to his own room.

"Hey wait!!" Yusuke shouted.

"Yusuke!! I think you've deprived us of sleep enough!!" Kurama snapped at him.

Yusuke looked at his usually level headed friend and saw a hint of yellow shimmering in his eyes. He nodded hastily before climbing onto Hikari's futon and pulling the blanket over himself.

In the morning, they all woke up early and around the same time. Hikari was well rested while Kurama and Yusuke were a little tired. As they walked in the kitchen, Hikari said, "I was surprised waking up next to you guys this morning. I don't remember actually going to sleep. …Hey, are you guys alright? You guys look really tired."

Yusuke glared at her and shouted, "Of course we're friggin' tired!! Last night wore the hell out of us!!"

"Eh? What happened last night?" she asked.

"What do you mean what happened?! You-"

"So Hikari how was your sleep?" Kurama asked, completely cutting off Yusuke.

Hikari stretched and with a smile she said, "It was a restful one, but some time during the night, I had a dream that this balding pervert was trying to pick me up and to force me to go somewhere with him and then I started shouting and someone saved me."

Kurama smiled at his cousin and asked, "Who saved you?"

Suddenly Hikari blushed and said, "Ahhh, I don't remember his face!!"

Kurama let it go at that and they all sat down to eat. As Hikari gobbled down her rice, her mind was only filled by one thought.

_There's no way anyone is finding out that it was Yusuke that saved me!! Ew, it's kinda really gross, but at least Yusuke's a good friend… in my dreams, I mean._

All of them finished their breakfast and soon Jin came in the kitchen to get them. "Alright kids, time to go to school," he said with no enthusiasm at all.

They got up without cleaning the table and followed Jin to the front of the house. "Now, you kids make sure you learn a lot. I don't put you through school for nothing and paying the tuition just so you can skip class is a waste," he said continuing on with the parent act. "Remember, don't hang out with those bad apples in school or else they can really mess you up."

Both Hikari and Yusuke were offended by this. "Hey… watch what you say," Hikari warned. "Those bad apples you're talking about are us."

Jin faked a sad face and said, "I'm already too late, already mingled with the bad crowd!"

Hikari poked Jin in the chest and said, "**You're **the bad crowd."

Chuckling, Jin hustled them out the front door and towards the front door. "Yeah, yeah. What a terrible influence I am. That's why I know who you're supposed to avoid in school."

"So how the hell are we supposed to avoid ourselves?!" Yusuke asked.

All three of them took time out of their mornings to stare at Yusuke in disbelief. "Can a person really be that dense?" Hikari asked.

They decided not to question the fate of humanity at that moment so they all just got into the car and went to school. First Jin dropped off Kurama at his high school and then he dropped off Hikari and Yusuke at school.

The two delinquents watched Jin drive until he turned the corner before looking at their school with slight disgust. The two of them stood at the gate as their classmates passed them.

Shuffling her feet, she asked, "Hey, wanna go to a pachinko parlour?"

Yusuke's reply was a simple turn of his back to the school and so the two of them ditched class that day to go play pachinko.

* * *

So how was it? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Please let me know.


	16. Day of Yakitori, Smoking, and Napping

Yay. I updated a lot sooner than expected. Whoot.

**Disclaimer: **I own what I own.

**Warning:** The following is rated M for language and things teenagers shouldn't be doing.

**Note:** _Italics _are Hikari's thoughts.

Please enjoy.

* * *

Yusuke's reply was a simple turn of his back to the school and so the two of them ditched class that day to go play pachinko.

As they were playing, Yusuke asked her, "Are you ever gonna be my next door neighbor again?"

She let out a chuckle and said, "Why? Ya miss me?"

"No way," he said. "I just thought that since we're doing something like this, then we can just hang out whenever if we lived next door."

"I see," Hikari replied with her eyes concentrated on the pachinko ball. "I dunno. Maybe. I mean, yeah, having a next door neighbor is cool and all, but I don't know if I can live with Oyuun. We'll see tomorrow night I guess when Jin collects the money she borrowed."

"I thought your sister was a-"

"She is. She said that she needed extra money to be more appealing to her customers," Hikari interrupted bitterly. "What a fucking whore."

They stayed there a little while longer before grabbing a bite to eat. "Hanging out with you isn't as bad as I thought," Hikari said before slurping her noodles.

"Same goes for you," Yusuke replied as he took a bite into his burger.

"Birds of a feather flock together I guess," Hikari said as she ate a piece of chicken from her bowl.

"You're pretty Japanese aren't you?" Yusuke asked while eyeing her food.

"…I hope you know we already had this conversation already," Hikari pointed out.

"Yeah, but even when you're out you still eat Japanese food," Yusuke said while gesturing to her ramen. "Have you even had a burger?"

"Yeah," she replied while continuing to eat. "I just prefer Japanese food is all. Fast food isn't all that healthy anyway."

Yusuke rolled his eyes and once they finished their food they stood outside the restaurant. "What should we do now?" Hikari asked.

Yusuke lit up a cigarette and took a puff before exhaling. While handing it to Hikari, he said, "Let's go walk around the park."

The two of them shared a cigarette as they took a stroll in the park. Lying down on the grass, they both took a nap.

They woke up to a dark shadow hovering over them. Hikari was first to open her eyes and there she saw the ugliest thing in the world.

"The hell, Kuwabara?" she asked.

"You two jerks ditched school today and left me alone!" he shouted at the two. "And here you two are, lying on the grass taking a nap!"

"Well then you should've gone to the cemetery last night. Kurama and I spent the night at Hikari's place," Yusuke said while getting up and brushing himself off.

Sitting up, Hikari brushed out her hair and said, "If you wanted to ditch, you just should've then. You would've found us eventually."

The three of them left the park and started walking around. Hikari checked her phone for the time and said, "Ah! It's this late already? Let's go get some dinner."

"Are you gonna pay for it?" Yusuke asked.

"No way," she replied. "I'm not rich."

"There's this place we can eat good yakitori at," Kuwabara said. "It's nearby too."

Hikari looked at Yusuke, who shrugged and said, "Sure, let's go."

They entered the restaurant and were immediately greeted. "Welcome! Please have a seat!"

They took a seat and a waiter came and handed them all menus. "What kind of yakitori do I want?" Yusuke asked himself as Hikari merely glanced at it before putting it down.

"Are you not gonna eat Hikari?" Kuwabara asked.

"I already know what I want," she replied.

Within a couple moments, the waiter came. "Ah, welcome. Can I take your orders?" a familiar voice said. "Ah! Hikari?"

Hikari raised her eyes to their waiter and did a double take before asking while trying to mask her slight annoyance, "What are you doing here, Kira?"

Kira smiled and said, "My family owns this restaurant. Geeze, I never expected you to come here."

"Well I never thought you'd work here," Hikari replied while handing him her menu. "I'll have chicken yakitori."

"Alright! One chicken yakitori on the house!" Kira said happily before marching off into the kitchen with the menu under his arm.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Yusuke and Kuwabara shouted while standing up and slapping their hands on the desk.

"Stupid jerk didn't even take our orders," Yusuke muttered bitterly as he slouched in his seat.

"Well when he comes back you can order," Hikari said. "Meanwhile, I get free food."

When Kira came back with Hikari's yakitori, she immediately said her thanks for the food and began to eat while Yusuke and Kuwabara began a verbal fight with Kira.

"Hey buddy," Yusuke said, "you were so keen on getting Hikari here some free food when you didn't even ask what we wanted to eat."

Kuwabara cracked his knuckled and said, "That's bad customer service buddy."

As Hikari chewed slowly, she said, "And that's a horrible attempt at being intimidating. You know he can refuse to even get you guys food. He has the right to refuse service to anyone."

Kira gave them a cocky smirk, but then Hikari continued. "Then again," she said while pulling a piece of chicken off the skewer, "Kira does have a part-time job and there are rules at Sarayashiki that ban us from getting jobs."

"Heh heh," Yusuke chuckled as he and Kuwabara both crossed their arms over their chests, accompanied by smug grins.

Kira cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "Well if we're playing that way, then I could always inform them that you are associated with the yakuza."

Hikari put down the skewer she had just finished eating and meticulously wiped her hands on a napkin. "I doubt that they'd actually let something like that get to them, when I'm the smartest person at Sarayashiki…"

She trailed off a moment to wipe her mouth. "But, if there were that small chance that they would even think something as absurd as to expel me, you certainly would be in Tokyo Bay with your feet tied to cement bricks. Meanwhile, my position as a student in Sarayashiki would be safely secured with some forceful persuasion," Hikari said with an unnerving calmness.

The three boys looked at her in awe. She picked up the second skewer full of chicken and slowly twirled it around it in her fingers. "Basically, my point is," Hikari said while pulling off a small piece of chicken, "you should know your enemy and just what kind of power they possess before go fuck with them. My power is the kind that can make you disappear without a trace."

Yusuke, Kira, and Kuwabara all gulped subconsciously before their friend that they found slightly scary.

'Trust me, Hikari' Yusuke thought. 'You can make everyone disappear with that power of yours.'

Hikari stood and smiled towards Kira. "Thank you for the yakitori. It was delicious," she said before leaving the restaurant and the three of them with open mouths.

"W-wow," Kira barely got out.

Yusuke seemed to snap out of some sort of trance when Kira spoke. "Y-yeah!" Yusuke said as he clapped a hand on Kira's shoulder, making him almost buckle underneath Yusuke's hand. "Better not mess with us or Hikari or else something bad will happen to ya kid!"

With that said, Yusuke and Kuwabara also left the restaurant. They stood outside for a moment, looking around for Hikari. "She's fast," Kuwabara muttered as they walked down the street looking around every corner.

"That threat earlier," Yusuke said with shivers down his spine just recalling the event, "was kinda scary."

"Yeah, I wonder where she learned how to blackmail, but then again she does with the yakuza," Kuwabara added.

"Huh? I didn't learn it from them. I used to watch a lot of yakuza movies when I was growing up. It was mostly all for memory with some parts improvised to fit the situation."

The two of them jumped and turned around. "Hikari! What the hell?!" Yusuke shouted.

"What?" she asked.

"How did you end up behind us?!"

She pointed back to the restaurant and said, "I was standing right outside waiting for you two and when you came out, you walked right passed me! Then you two started walking down the street so I just followed you!"

Yusuke turned red and then shouted at her. "Well you coulda said something before we went looking for you!"

"I thought you knew I was there!" she shouted back.

"Obviously, if we're looking around corners for you, we don't know you're there!"

"How am I supposed to know what an idiot thinks?!"

"Why you-"

"YUSUKE!!"

The two of them stopped yelling to see who was calling Yusuke. Across the street, there stood Yusuke's childhood friend and boy did she look pissed.

The streetlights quickly changed as if in fear of Keiko's burning anger. "Ah. I should let you and your girlfriend have some time to talk," Hikari said with slight bitterness as she narrowed her eyes towards Keiko unknowingly. "I'll just see ya tomorrow, Yusuke. See ya."

"Yeah, see ya Urameshi," Kuwabara said and the two of them began to walk off.

Yusuke watched them for a moment as he waited for Keiko.

"Ew! Don't walk with me you orangutan! I can't possibly be seen or associated with someone so hideous!" Hikari said as she pushed Kuwabara dangerously into the street. Yusuke laughed and turned his head to greet a flaming mad Keiko.

Not being that far away, Hikari could hear Keiko's shrieking. "Yusuke! You skipped school today didn't you?! Why did you go and do something as irresponsible as that?!"

"Hey," Hikari said to Kuwabara, who was still walking next to her.

"Huh? Wh-what is it?" he asked cautiously.

She pulled out her cell phone and looked through her phonebook. "Do need a ride home?"

"I thought you didn't want to be associated with someone as hideous as me," he replied with slight shame and embarrassment.

"Your ugliness makes me feel better about myself," Hikari replied flatly.

_Shit, just because you're ugly doesn't mean we aren't friends. I mean, there's always the ugly person in a group of people right? Unless the ugly person is a loner or they hang out with other ugly people… or something. ANYWAY…_

"So anyway, just because you're ugly doesn't mean you aren't my friend. I can always say I'm helping out an unfortunate soul like you who was born with an unattractive face," she said. "So do you want a ride or not?"

He nodded unsure whether to be grateful or not.

"Ah. Jin? Can you pick me and a friend up?" she asked stopping in her tracks. "We'll go back to the school. You can pick us up from there. Alright. See ya."

Hanging up the phone, she looked at Kuwabara and said, "Alright. Time to go back to school."

They were walking for quite a while, when they saw a familiar red head across the street. "HEY! SHUICHI!" Hikari shouted and waved.

Kurama lifted his head in surprise and looked at Hikari and Kuwabara standing across the street. He waved back and blinked furiously as his cousin climbing over the railing, which was meant to keep her out of the street, and run over to his side of the street.

"Hikari! That was dangerous!" Kurama scolded as he placed both of his hands on her shoulders.

She just smiled and said, "I'm fine though, aren't I?"

"You could've been hit!"

"But I wasn't hit, was I?"

"You could've died!"

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" she replied with slight guilt in her voice.

Kurama sighed and took his hands off of her. "Yes. I guess that's what's most important."

Once the streetlights changed, Kuwabara came running over. "You sure have got some balls for just running across the street like that."

She smiled and said, "There were no cars around so I figured it'd be fine. I wouldn't run across the street otherwise."

Both of them then felt slightly idiotic for not noticing that the street was clear.

"Where are you two headed?" Kurama asked while ignoring his slight embarrassment.

"Back to school to get picked up," Hikari replied. "I'm gonna drive Kuwabara home."

"If we're heading back to school, I could just walk home," Kuwabara said.

"Ah. Then you can just walk me there then," Hikari said.

"I'll join you guys," Kurama said and they all headed towards Sarayashiki.

Hikari sat on the ground while Kurama and Kuwabara stood around and leaned against the outer gate, respectively.

"I've been wondering," Hikari said as she looked up at Kurama, "has Koenma been able to figure out who the demon is?"

Kurama seemed to forget what she was talking about until he suddenly remembered. "So far, there has been no word yet so we have to still keep our guard up. I'll have to talk with Koenma myself if he's got any leads."

"Isn't it dangerous that I live so far then?" she asked.

"It's a tad bit troublesome, but maybe living with the yakuza isn't such a bad idea," Kurama said. "There's also Hiei that keeps watch over you when you're out alone."

"Eh? What?!" Hikari shouted as she stood up to face Kurama. "Shorty is stalking me?!"

"Hiei is simply keeping an eye on you in case you run into any danger that you wouldn't be able to handle on your own," Kurama explained. "He's the most able, maybe not willing, but able."

"That's creepy," Hikari said as she sat back down. "Oh well. I guess he's better than no one."

Suddenly a car pulled up and the window was rolled down. "Hikari," Jin said.

She jumped up and ran to the other side of the car. "I'll see you guys tomorrow or something. Bye!" she said before getting into the car.

Kuwabara and Kurama both watched her drive off in the car before looking to a short patch of black next to them.

"Do you know what she's thinking Hiei?" Kurama asked feeling slightly ashamed to have his cousin's thoughts read by his best friend.

"She doesn't want to be a hindrance to anyone," Hiei replied with a bored tone. "She's slightly stressed out, but apparently being with friends makes her feel more relaxed and at ease."

"I see," Kurama said. "I guess there's no use for any of us to be standing around here, so let's all be getting home."

They all went off in their own directions and on the way home, Hikari and Jin had a talk in the car.

"Tomorrow night we're going to go see Oyuun," Jin said as he recklessly made a right turn, almost having another car rear-end him. "Are you excited?"

"Hardly," Hikari muttered.

"I think that when I come to collect the money, I think you should go back to living with her," he said. Hikari looked at him in disbelief.

…_He makes it sound like he just lost in court and Oyuun has full custody of me! What the hell is that about?!_

"I've been a nuisance, haven't I?" Hikari asked.

"No! No. It's not that," Jin quickly said. "It's just that… living and growing up with the yakuza isn't a life that a fourteen-year-old girl should have. It's dangerous and scary. Mattias and Dameon told me to keep you away from this kind of life as much as possible, but then I did one of the worse things by letting you live with us at headquarters, the root of all evil. Taking care of you for a mere three days has matured me a bit more. I see now why your brothers treasured you. You may be a troublemaker that makes everyone worry and panic, but you truly care and when someone's angry you honestly feel bad. Anytime you're overwhelmed by an emotion, you can clearly see it on your face. You may not have the best sense of justice, but you're honest."

He placed a hand on her head and patted her. 'She's probably gonna be in tears with that speech. Ah hah, Jin. How much better you've gotten at swaying little kids.'

"Do I get a going away party?" she asked.

Jin glanced at her and saw not a single tear on her cheeks. He put both hands on the wheel and asked, "Hey, why aren't you crying?"

"Why?! Is it your goal to make little girls cry?!" she shouted. "Besides, you not only embarrassed me, but even insulted me just now!!"

Jin went quiet as he continued to drive.

"So do I get a going away party?" she asked again.

"Why do you actually want one?"

Hikari nodded her head and said, "Of course! Everyone was so nice even if I was there for a few days!"

"Then I'll have one ready for you tomorrow," he said. "Just be prepared for crying."

"I'm not gonna cry!"

"I know **you** aren't but they are," he said with a chuckle. "As tough and rude as they may be, they're totally pussies when it comes to good-byes."

"Even you?"

"Even me."

"You pussy," Hikari said with a laugh and Jin gave her a slight push.

* * *

So did you like me updating this soon? You can thank Lee Totema for giving a review which boosted my confidence in writing. Thank you for reading!


	17. Candies, Chocolates, and Letters, Oh My!

Hello! I seem to be on a roll nowadays. So here you go! Please enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for violence and anything else that might not be appropriate.

* * *

"You pussy," Hikari said with a laugh and Jin gave her a slight push.

After dinner that night, Hikari had yet to get a head start on the week after next week's homework. She had just taken a bath and was lying on her bed with her arms behind her head. All she was doing was staring up at the ceiling.

_Is there something I'm supposed to be doing right now? It feels like I forgot about something, or there's something that still needs to be done. It can't be homework…_

Raising her hand so that it was reaching out to her ceiling light, she clenched and unclenched her hand.

_Whatever it is, it feels unattainable. What is it?!_

There was a knock on her door and she said, "Come in."

It opened a crack and Jin poked his head in the room. "Yo," he replied with curious eyes.

"Yo," she replied. "What is it?"

"I saw your light on. It's already past midnight. You should be sleeping," he said.

Hikari brought her arm down and shrugged. "Jin, I feel like I should be doing something more with my life."

Jin carefully walked into her room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the wall and asked, "Do you have any idea what it might be?"

Sitting up, her hair fell over her shoulders. As she pulled her feet in, she said, "Not really, but… it just feels a little incomplete."

Then Jin said something that Hikari wouldn't really expect from him. "Well, little or a lot, it's incomplete," he said.

"That was something awfully smart for **you** to say," Hikari put bluntly.

Pushing himself off the wall, he turned and opened the door with his back to Hikari. "Sit up on the roof. It's a clear night tonight. Maybe you can sort a few things out over there," Jin said before exiting the room.

Hikari took his suggestion into consideration. Within seconds she pulled on a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt over her pajamas, grabbed her cell phone, and from the hallway closet she grabbed a blanket. She made her way to the back of the house and pulled on some shoes. Going outside, the troubled teen went to go find a way to get up to the roof.

Walking to one side of the house she found a fire escape on the side and quickly ran over to it. Carefully and quietly walking up the steps, Hikari couldn't help but feel excited.

Arriving at her destination, she laid the blanket on the ground and sat on it. Looking up at the night sky, felt a calming sensation overwhelm her. She laid back and just watched the sky. It was a full moon, and with all the lights on in the city, Hikari could only make out a few stars, but even so she enjoyed it.

"_How nice_," she said.

"Huh? What did you just say?" Hikari sat up and saw Kino climbing up from the fire escape. "So what was that you said just now?"

Kino had his own blanket and also a pillow. He laid out his blanket next to Hikari's. "Ah, you couldn't hear me?" she asked.

"No, I could hear you just fine," he said sitting down. "I just didn't understand what you said."

Hikari's brows furrowed and she had such a confused look on her face that Kino laughed. "Hey! Don't laugh! I don't even know what you're talking about!" she said while hitting him. "I was speaking Japanese wasn't I?"

"I have been speaking Japanese all my life and that was not Japanese," Kino stated and Hikari looked at him full of shock.

Hikari looked down at her lap and said aloud, "I was speaking another language without knowing it?! But how?! I speak Japanese, I think Japanese, but when I talk to myself it's another language?!"

Kino laughed and said, "Calm down. I'm sure there's a reason why you know more than one language right?"

"You came from Mongolia didn't you Hikari?" came another voice.

The two of them looked over to the fire escape and saw Jin. "I didn't think you'd be coming up too," Hikari said. "You even brought your own blanket too. Oh! And two pillows!"

"I figured that you wouldn't be smart enough to bring one," Jin said as he tossed one over to her. She caught it and he asked, "So, didn't you come from Mongolia?"

Hikari blinked in surprise and then said, "Ah, yeah. I was really young when I lived over there."

"You're from Mongolia?" Kino asked with surprise.

"Well, yeah," she slowly replied.

"Can you speak it fluently?" he asked as Jin set up his spot next to Hikari.

As she gestured with her hands, she said, "I'm alright I guess. I can get by with what I know. Oyuun's fluent though. When we used to live with our grandmother and Oyuun would get mad at me, she used to curse at me so bad…"

"Must've been awful. Did you grandmother understand what she was saying?"

"Not a single word," Hikari replied with a small chuckle. "She's stopped for the most part."

Kino nodded his head understandingly and gradually they all went quiet. The silence of the night was short lived as they head loud clanking and voices from the fire escape.

"Ah! People are already here!" Takumi, the one with the goatee, said as they all walked onto the rooftop. Jin waved them all over and they all sat around Hikari.

"Everybody's… coming up here," she said in awe.

Smiling, Jin said, "Everyone seemed to have something on their minds, so I thought that coming up to the roof would help clear their minds."

They were all chatting happily when Jin remembered something and reached into his pillow case.

"What is it?" Hikari asked as he pulled out two large pieces of folded paper and handed it to her.

"Open it," he said while gesturing to do so.

Kino leaned over to her and asked, "What's that?"

Hikari handed one of them to Kino, and said, "Open it. It's got your name on it."

The two of them unfolded the pieces of paper, curiously wondering what it was.

"Oh! It's from yesterday!" Hikari exclaimed.

"Technically it's already tomorrow, so the other day," Jin corrected, but Hikari just ignored him.

"These are our targets," Kino said.

Suddenly something occurred to Hikari. "The bet!! The bet we made!!"

"Ah!" Kino said with surprise and disbelief. Though it was just a little over twenty-four hours, he had completely forgotten about it.

Hikari stood up and tried to get everyone's attention. "Hey everybody! Right now, there's a bet between Kino and me! You have to decide based on these targets which of us can shoot better!" Hikari shouted. "If you think the one on the left is better, then stand by it. Same goes for the one on the right."

They covered up the names with their pillows and examined the two targets very carefully with a flashlight that someone had so cleverly brought. Eventually everyone was sorted out, with Hikari miraculously being the winner.

While Hikari was rejoicing, Kino was sulking. "How could I lose to someone seven years younger than me?! I have that many years more experience!!"

All of his fellow buddies started scolding him, and at the same time they were praising Hikari. Most of the night was spent with Hikari teaching Kino the "Hare Hare Yukai." The rest of the night was spent curled up in their blankets, much like how burritos are rolled.

In the morning, everyone woke up finding themselves slightly dazed, slightly confused and really cold on the rooftop. The rising sun had all woken them up, despite all their wishes and prayers for it to go back down.

_Ugh… This is like the time I had to wake up super early over the summer to go to Koenma's place for the first time._

Once Hikari reached her room, she immediately got ready for school. It seemed like a plain morning.

When Hikari got to school and she opened her locker to change her shoes, she was surprised to find boxes of chocolate, candy in shiny wrapping paper, and envelopes closed with red seals spilling out of it.

"…What the hell?" she said before changing her shoes and carrying it all with her to class.

When Hikari managed to get inside her classroom, she wasn't very ecstatic to see what looked like to be a basket of even more candy. Pushing the basket onto her chair, Hikari piled all her gifts on her desk.

"Ah. Hikari," Kira's voice drifted into the room. "What's with all the gifts?"

Hikari looked back at him and sighed. "I dunno. I just found the ones on my desk just pouring out of my locker. The basket was on my desk."

"Yeah, the basket was already there yesterday," Kira said as he made his way over to his desk. "What are you gonna do with all of it?"

Hikari looked at the heap of candy and just stared at it for a moment. "I guess I'll take what I want and either throw it away or give it to someone."

"Heartless," Kira laughed as he sat down.

Hikari peeked through all the bags and boxes and then scratched her head. "What a nuisance," she said. "Wanna help me carry it to the incinerator?"

Kira furrowed his brow and asked, "You're going that far to get rid of all this?"

"It's fine," she said without a trace of emotion in her voice. "There isn't much else we can do with it."

Hikari grabbed the basket and some of the candy on her desk, leaving some of it for Kira to carry. The two of them then made their way down the stairs and to the back of the school. Luckily the janitor was there to help them out.

When Hikari and Kira returned to class, Hikari found even more candy on her desk. Frustrated, she marched over to the window and threw it open. She then picked up her desk and flung all the candy out of the window.

"And that is that," she said feeling a whole lot better while she put her desk back. Once she sat in her chair, the first thing she did was go to sleep. And so, the teenage girl stayed asleep the entire day, even through lunch, without any disruptions.

After school, Hikari was packing up her things when Kira got up from his seat and waited for her. "Hey Hikari," he said softly.

"What?" she asked slightly irritated of the attractive boy. The conversation continued as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Wanna go out on a date with me sometime?" he asked with a shy smile. Hikari dropped her arm by her side and she just stared at the boy for a couple moments until he felt awkward. "Uh, Hikari? Are you gonna answer me anytime soon?"

Instantaneously, Hikari turned her back on him and rushed out the door. Finding Yusuke in the hall, she pulled him back into his classroom.

"What the hell?" he said, but the Hikari covered his mouth. Yusuke looked at her with slight worry in his eyes.

"Kira just asked me out on a date," she said while avoiding his gaze.

Yusuke took her hand off of his mouth and asked, "Well you wanna go out on a date with him?"

Hikari replied with a blank stare.

Yusuke rolled his eyes and said, "Well if you don't want to, then say no."

She stayed silent and Yusuke realized she wasn't looking directly at him. Following Hikari's gaze, he realized that he was still holding her hand from when he pulled her hand from covering his mouth. As he turned a bright shade of red, Yusuke threw her hand down forcefully and repeated what he said.

"As I was saying!" he said nearly shouting it. "If you don't wanna go out on a date with him, then just reject the guy."

Hikari scratched the back of her head and told him, "I also got a shitload of candy, chocolate, and letters."

"From who?"

She shrugged and replied, "Kira and I threw them all in the incinerator."

Yusuke stared at her for a moment before bursting into uncontrollable laughter.

"Hey! Quit laughing! I'm really creeped out by this!" Hikari hit him in the arm. "I don't get what's going on."

Yusuke's laughter slowly came to a halt. "Whaddaya mean? You've got some admirers. What's so hard to understand?"

Hikari walked over to a nearby desk and sat on it. "Who in their right mind would admire me?"

"Ain't that the truth," Yusuke said half-heartedly while leaning against the wall. "Maybe… we should find out who's been givin' ya the stalker presents, and then" we'll figure out how to tackle Kira."

Hopping off the desk, she gave him a nod. The two of them set out of the classroom and to the halls.

"So are we gonna be neighbors anytime soon?" Yusuke asked as they changed their shoes.

Giving him a nod, Hikari replied, "I'm going back to Oyuun's place tonight. I would've liked to stay a little longer, but I've probably overstayed my welcome."

The two of them walked out of the nearly empty school and headed towards the river, where they met some unlucky thugs from a rival school.

"Hey there, cutie," one of them greeted Hikari.

Not wanting to resort to fighting for once, Yusuke put his arm around Hikari's shoulders and said, "Back off, chump. This is my girl."

_Snap._

Something in Hikari's head seemed to have snapped at that sentence, immobilizing her for a moment as the thugs continued to talk.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!"

"I'm Yusuke Urameshi, ya idiots! Number one fighter one fighter at Sarayashiki."

"Hey, Yusuke," Hikari said, barely audible.

"Now's not the time, **babe**," Yusuke said in a low voice.

Within a second, Yusuke was thrown at the thugs from the other school, knocking them all down.

Hikari dug an angry foot into Yusuke's back and said, "First of all… MY NAME AIN'T CUTIE OR BABE, DAMN IT!! MY NAME IS HIKARI MORINO!! Second of all… I'M NO ONE'S GIRL!! I BELONG TO NO ONE BESIDES MYSELF!! Thirdly… DON'T YOU DARE LAY A HAND ON ME, URAMESHI!! And finally… THIS DOUCHE HERE AIN'T NUMBER ONE!! I'M THE NUMBER ONE FIGHTER AT SARAYASHIKI!!"

Hearing a chuckle from one of the other people, she tossed that one into the river and kicked the other one in, leaving Yusuke in the dirt. She grabbed one of them by the front of his shirt and Hikari began to punch their face in. "I don't get it! I'm not attractive in any sense of the word!" she shouted before taking off the guy's shoe and hurling it at the other guy's head, knocking him out. "No one has even thought of sparing me a glance before, so WHY NOW?!"

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Hikari's head snapped in the direction of the voice and saw a policeman. Jumping out of the river, Hikari picked up her schoolbag off the ground. "Yusuke! Let's go!"

Yusuke jumped to his feet and grabbed his bag. The two of them ran for it as the policeman chased them on his bicycle. They were running down the street when someone called Hikari's name.

"Miss Hikari! Over here!" the two delinquents looked over to an unfamiliar girl who was hastily gesturing for them to follow her.

Yusuke and Hikari spared each other a glance before following the strange girl. She led them through some alleys and behind some buildings, before arriving at a totally isolated cake house.

Entering the cake house, they took a seat at a small table. Despite their best efforts, Hikari and Yusuke couldn't help but feel awkward and out of place. The cake house was full of different shades of pink, faux pink fur furniture, and lace.

"Uh, I don't mean to be rude," Hikari said slowly to the smiling girl, "but who are you?"

The girl quickly gave a bow and said, "Oh, I beg your pardon for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Chieko Yamaguchi. It's a pleasure to finally talk to you, Miss Hikari."

"Ah, you don't have to address me so formally, Chieko," Hikari said. "Uh, do you know me?"

The one named Chieko nodded and said with a big smile, "Yes, we're in the same class."

As her eyes widened in shock, Hikari felt a bit shameful and she immediately apologized. "Ah. Sorry for not noticing."

The girl immediately started making rapid hand gestures and shook her head frantically. "No! Don't worry about it! I don't expect someone as great as Miss Hikari to notice someone as inferior as me!" Chieko said.

This caught Hikari and Yusuke completely off guard. Giving a nod of her head, Hikari replied awkwardly, "Uhm, oh-kay."

_Uhh, what's with this girl? …She's a little too happy. Why is she staring at me so fondly?! Ahhh!! Her gaze!! It burns!!_

"Is there a reason why you're sucking up to Hikari?" Yusuke asked. "It's a little creepy and really annoying."

Suddenly Chieko dropped her smile as she looked at Yusuke, and she said in a harsh voice, "Idiots should be quiet.'

Right after, Chieko was smiling towards Hikari again. Hikari and Yusuke had no idea what was going on with this girl, but they were both starting to think that being caught by that police officer might have been better.

Chieko pushed the menu towards Hikari and said, "Please, Miss Hikari, order anything you'd like, anything at all!! I'd be more than delighted to pay for you! It's an honor! Really it is!"

* * *

Who is Chieko Yamaguchi? What are her motives? What kind of cake is on that menu? Find out what Hikari orders in the next chapter!!


	18. Not Saying Goobye, But Until Next Time

Hello! I guess the roll I was on ended, huh? Haha. Well, here you go.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for language, sexual orientation, and yeahh...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anyone from Yu Yu Hakusho.

* * *

Chieko pushed the menu towards Hikari and said, "Please, Miss Hikari, order anything you'd like, anything at all!! I'd be more than delighted to pay for you! It's an honor! Really it is!"

Hikari cautiously picked up the menu while eyeing Chieko. She quickly skimmed it and said, "I don't think that I'd find strawberry mochi or green tea in here."

"Ah! I can have someone get it for you then!" Chieko said enthusiastically. Before Hikari could protest, she whipped out her cell phone and called someone. "Hi, Ayu? I'm at the cake shop. Miss Hikari is here! She wants some strawberry mochi and green tea right away! Make sure to tell the others!"

Within seconds, a bunch of girls wearing the Sarayashiki girls' uniform came and filled in the small cake house, squealing all the while.

"Ah! There she is!"

"I've never been this close to her before!"

"Who is that guy she's with? Her boyfriend? Ew, she's too good for him."

Neither Hikari nor Yusuke even had a guess as to what was going on. The shock had prevented them from their brain from thinking, and sometime during the time she was stunned there was suddenly strawberry mochi and green tea in front of her.

Hikari snapped back to reality and realized that the cake house was full of smiling Sarayashiki girls. She looked at Chieko, who still had that plastered on smile.

"Miss Hikari, please eat," Chieko said while gesturing towards the strawberry mochi. The other girls then repeated what she said in unison.

Slightly scared, Yusuke scooted away from them, and Hikari immediately picked up the mochi. She held it up, said, "Thank you for the food," and then took a bite.

All the girls leaned forward and Chieko asked, "How is it?"

Hikari swallowed and said, "Ah! It's super tasty!!"

The Sarayashiki girls all let out squeals of joy and applauded. "Yay! Miss Hikari likes it!!" they all cheered.

Once they calmed down and Hikari had finished her mochi, Chieko asked, "Miss Hikari, did you enjoy all the sweets and chocolate we gave you?"

"Eh?" Hikari said.

One of the girls standing around spoke up. "All the chocolate and candy that we made for you and put in your locker and on your desk, we made those!"

"Why would you go through so much trouble for me?" Hikari asked blankly.

"Of **course** we'd go through all that trouble for you!" Chieko shrieked. "You're the great Miss Hikari! Why wouldn't we do something like that? After all…"

Chieko's voice trailed off as she looked back at the other girls. "...We're the Hikari Morino fan club!!"

Hikari blinked twice and then said, "What? I think I misheard you."

"We're the Hikari Morino fan club," they all said once more.

"I hear what you're sayin'," Hikari said with squinted eyes, "but it just doesn't seem to-"

"We all love Miss Hikari!" Chieko said.

"You know, 'love' is a very strong word," Hikari said. "I think you maybe like or idolize me, but not lo-"

"But we **do **love you, Miss Hikari," Chieko insisted. "You're much better than any man or boyfriend any of us have ever been with."

_Great. I created a bunch of lesbians._

Hikari kept a blank face before she let out a laugh and said, "I find that impossible. Older men with good-looks already surpass me by light-years."

Then a tear rolled down Chieko's cheek.

_Oh crap. Don't tell me I made her cry. I may be a girl, but I don't know shit when it comes to consoling someone._

"It's true, Miss Hikari," a girl spoke up while stepping forward to comfort Chieko. "You're the smartest third year at Sarayashiki, and you're really strong! Even though your grades are beyond perfect, you're really a complete delinquent and you either don't attend class or you just sleep through it. Not to mention… you're actually really good-looking for a girl!"

Yusuke's eye twitched and Hikari was holding her breath, waiting for someone in the mass of middle school girls to tell her it was a prank. Everyone kept quiet, waiting for any form of response from Hikari.

"Are we talking about that homosexual/lesbian type of love with maybe a dash of idol-love?" she asked and they all nodded. "Please do not do any of the following…"

All of them pulled out a notepad and pencil as they prepared to take notes.

"Do not check me out, do anything perverted, make perverted jokes, grope, touch, or anything that is inappropriate," Hikari said. "I don't mind talking to you as long as you don't try and look down my shirt, or up my skirt. Also, please keep your fantasies to yourself, and no pictures. Any other things that I have yet to state will be announced at a later time. Right now, my friend and I are going to leave. Thank you very much for the strawberry mochi and green tea. Bye!"

Yusuke and Hikari then ran for it and tried to find their way back to society.

Once they reached a street that they were familiar with, Hikari and Yusuke stopped to catch a breather. They had been running around turning each and every corner, trying to find civilization and away from the labyrinth of buildings.

As they were hunched over panting for air, Yusuke said, "I'm so glad that I'm not you, Hikari."

"Oh, since I'm moving back in Oyuun's apartment tonight, wanna skip school tomorrow?"

"I can't."

"Whaddaya mean you can't?" Hikari was surprised.

_What?! What the hell is he saying?! Yusuke and I are like partners in crime and now he's bailing out on skipping school?! What's going on?! The world must be coming to an end! The apocalypse must be finally approaching!_

"When Keiko found out I skipped school yesterday, she was really pissed," Yusuke explained almost sounding like a kid that had been punished. "She's making sure I come to school and do homework for the next two weeks."

Hikari winced and said, "That's… harsh."

"Don't worry," he said while stretching his arms over his head. "As long as I act like a good boy the next two weeks, it'll be over compared to if I struggle, and as soon as it's over, we cut class. That'll be the first thing we do to celebrate."

"Hah! Of course it is," she said as they walked off.

While they were walking, Hikari's cell phone started ringing. "Hello? …What? Oh, right. I'll be by the school then. Bye!"

"You want be to walk you?" Yusuke asked, but Hikari shook her head.

"No, it's alright. I'll be fine," she said as she walked backwards towards Sarayashiki. "See ya, around, Yusuke!"

"See ya!" he replied before walking home.

Both of them walked away feeling an unexplainable emptiness inside of them.

Hikari was standing in front of the nearly empty school. There was a cool breeze, which made the girl fuss over her hair getting in her face. AS she kept trying to fix her hair, someone whistled at her. Tying her hair back, Hikari glared at the person that whistled at her.

"C'mon, Hikari. You've got a party to get to," Jin said. Next to him, Kino leaned forward and waved.

Breaking out into a big smile, Hikari hopped into the backseat. "Yeah! Party time!" Hikari cheered.

"Party! Party!" Kino chanted.

"Idiots! Shut up! Do you want me to crash?!" Jin shouted while accidentally making the car swerve. Kino and Hikari just laughed obnoxiously the entire way home with Jin shouting at them.

Once they arrived at home, Jin, Kino, and Hikari all made their way to the dining room, where Hikari had never stepped foot in because of its intimidating large, shiny wooden doors with its own lion-headed door knockers and gold painted door handles. When Hikari opened the door, she was met by a cake held by five men. On the cake was written "Please come back and visit Princess!"

…_Eh? Since when was I called princess?! …These guys and their minds are unbelievable._

Looking up at them to say thanks, Hikari stumbled backwards, bumping into Kino and Jin. All of the yakuza members were crying his eyes out. Some of them also had snot running out of their nose and others were biting on their handkerchiefs.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Don't have your snot getting on the cake!" Hikari shouted.

They were able to enjoy the cake and party up until it was two and a half hours before midnight and it was time to get Hikari back to Oyuun's apartment and collect the money that Oyuun owes. The three of them left after a tearful goodbye on the yakuza's part while Hikari on the other hand nearly had her limbs ripped off.

When Jin parked the car, Hikari said, "I never thought I'd really be back this soon."

They all carried Hikari's bags up to the apartment. Hikari pulled out her keys and opened the door. "I'm back," she said into the empty apartment. After they took of their shoes, Hikari threw all her bags into her room and then went to the kitchen.

"Are you gonna cook something even after cake?" Jin asked as he and Kino relaxed on the couch.

"Yeah," Hikari replied as she turned on the stove. "Eating sweets makes me hungry for something with rice."

Kino stood up and said, "Ah. I'll make you something then."

Hikari put the pan on the counter and said, "Ah, really? Thanks then."

Kino walked into the kitchen and Hikari jumped over the back of the couch. "Hey! Watch out! That's dangerous!"

Hikari laughed it off as she turned on the television. "You better not take too long cooking, Kino!"

"Don't worry. It won't be that long," Kino replied.

In the meantime, Hikari and Jin occupied themselves with watching a game show. "Ah! He picked the wrong box!" Hikari said.

A while later, Kino finally finished the meal he cooked for Hikari. "Alright! The food is ready!" he said while plating the food. "Sorry for the wait."

Hikari jumped back over the couch and said, "Thank you for cooking. You might want to fix yourself something else as well since it'll be a while before Oyuun comes home. Ah, this is… curry? What kind of curry is this?"

"Leek curry," Kino said while handing her chopsticks.

"Aren't you supposed to eat curry with spoons?" Hikari asked.

"For Indian curry," Kino explained, "but this is Japanese curry, which has starch so it's better to use chopsticks."

"Ah, I see," she replied. "Well that's convenient."

Hikari started eating and then she said, "Whoah! It's absolutely delicious!"

Kino hit Hikari over the head with a dishtowel and said, "Idiot! Of course it's delicious! **I** made it after all!"

"You're quite the arrogant and conceited one," Hikari said while rubbing her head.

"Kino was once the heir of a curry restaurant," Jin said over his shoulder.

"Eh? Really?!" Hikari asked with sparkles in her eyes as she kept eating.

Kino leaned on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "Ah, yeah," he replied with a small blush on his cheeks. "But that was a long time ago already. I'm obviously no longer the heir."

"Why?"

"When I was young, I loved to cook curry for the restaurant my family owned. I managed to be pretty good at a young age so that when we were a little short on cooks, I would be helping out making the dishes," he explained. "When I was about twelve, I was already heavily involved with the yakuza. A first year middle school student was already working for the yakuza doing things like blackmailing other kids and their families for money. Sometimes I also scouted for new members. I was disowned that year and so I begged the yakuza to house me while I still attended middle school. In return, I promised that I would devote my life to the yakuza, and so here I am now, an ex-heir to a curry restaurant that is a gangster for life."

"Do you regret it?" Hikari asked. "I mean, your curry tastes so good so I'm sure that even after you were disowned you still practiced."

"Ha-ha," Kino laughed painfully. "I love cooking and I love curry, but the yakuza is my family. Even if I can't make money off of curry for a living, I can make it for my family though. At least then someone will get to taste it."

"Can't you open a stand or booth or something? Isn't that common to have like takoyaki stand or something to make extra cash? Wouldn't you like to do something like that?"

"A curry stand?" Kino thought aloud. "I don't think that anyone would buy curry from a pierced idiot like me."

Finishing the rest that was on the plate, Hikari said, "I don't think that an idiot can make curry that tastes this good."

Kino laughed to himself and then he walked over to Hikari and ruffled her hair. "You're awfully mature for a fourteen year old."

"Yeah, I am," she replied, "but the fact that you're also immature makes the gap seem even larger."

Hours later after they had all dozed off, the front door opened and a female scream was heard. "What are you doing here?! How did you get inside?!"

"Welcome home," Hikari woke up with a bored tone at the kitchen table. "You're early… in the morning."

Jin woke up with a yawn and said, "Ah, you've finally arrived, Oyuun."

"We've been waiting for you," Kino said with a joyful tone as he stepped out of the kitchen.

Oyuun glared at them and asked, "Why are there three of you?"

"Two of us are here to drop of the kid," Jin said. "Two of us also are here to collect the money. Two of us are going to also say goodbye to the kid. So, we've dropped off Hikari technically, so where's the money, Oyuun?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it," she said while walking to her room.

"Ah. That's right," Kino said as if remembering something. He turned to Hikari. "You're sister's a bitch."

"No, really?!" Hikari said with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"I used to go to middle school with her. She was actually in my class. So obnoxious and annoying," Kino said. "Didn't you go to the same elementary school, Jin?"

"Yeah," Jin replied without really paying attention. "I didn't really care about lowerclassmen though, especially back then."

Suddenly, Oyuun came back out with a wad of cash. "Here's your stupid money," she said while throwing it at Jin.

Jin counted it and laughed. "You must mistake me for a fool."

"I think you are a fool," Oyuun said.

Jin got up off the couch and said, "This does not cover the amount you owe us."

"That's the exact amount I borrowed!" she shouted. "I can count correctly unlike you!"

"This may be the exact amount you borrowed, but you for got about the interest rate, bitch," Jin said in a deathly low voice. Hikari raised her eyebrows in interest.

_Ah, he's really acting like a yakuza now. Amazing. I have even more respect for him now._

"Interest is ten-thousand yen a day," Jin said calmly. "It's been a little over three months, so you owe us an additional one million yen."

Oyuun scowled and Hikari was impressed with Jin's work. Oyuun marches back into her room to fetch more cash.

"What a drama queen," Kino said. "If she borrowed money from us, she should know that we expect interest."

"Interesting… your sister has one million yen stashed away, but she borrowed only seventy-five hundred thousand from us," Jin said.

"I managed to save up this much money on the side idiot," Oyuun said while shoving the rest of the money in his chest. "Now get out and go. I paid you."

Jin wagged his finger and said, "Two of us haven't finished yet. We still have to say bye to the kid."

Walking over to Hikari, he gave her a big hug that caught her off guard. "Hey," Jin said. "If you ever need anything, you give me a call right away, alright? Call anytime, day or night, and I'll rush over right away. Don't forget to just call to say 'Hi' alright?"

Hikari was soon overcome by emotion and she could feel the pressure of tears behind her eyes. To avoid crying, she buried her face in Jin's shirt and hugged him back.

"You better call me kid," Jin threatened and then sniffled. "It's been only a couple days, but they really meant a lot. I'd be happy to answer a phone call from you. So call, okay?"

Hikari loosened her grip on Jin and wiped her eyes with a small nod. Jin then let go of her so that Kino could talk to her. Kino placed a hand on top her head and ruffled her head. He only stopped when she pushed his hand off her head. He gave a soft chuckle and smiled.

"Hey, come on. Don't be so sad," he said as he bent over and rested his hands on knees. "We'll see each other again right? Here, you can have my number too."

Hikari handed her cell phone over to him while she rubbed her eyes and sniffled. After adding himself to her address book, Kino handed her cell back to her. Kino said, "Let's go have some tea once in a while, okay? We can still hang out. You can expect calls from me just to check up on you, so you better answer, okay?"

"Yeah," she said with a sniffle. "I'll answer."

Kino gave her a big hug and said, "We'll be going then."

"You two," Hikari said quietly. "Make sure you stop by to visit then, alright?"

The two of them nodded and then made their way towards the door. "It was a pleasure doing business with you Oyuun. Later, Hikari," Jin said as they exited.

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	19. Getting Wilder Now, Getting Stronger Now

Here is the nineteenth chapter! Whoot! You know, I never thought I'd make it past ten. I thought I'd be finished by ten but it's nearly twenty now. The end is fast approaching though!

**Warning: **The following is rated M for a lot more violence than usual with rather particular details and language.

**Disclaimer: **I think everyone understands that I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

* * *

Hikari held back her tears and sucked it up. "I'm gonna take a bath and then I'm gonna sleep," she said without waiting for her older sister's reply.

The next day, Hikari woke up feeling sad and a little lonely. At first, she didn't get why, but then she remembered.

_Ah, that's right. I'm living with Oyuun again, which means I don't get to hang out with Jin and Kino as much even though they said I could call them… Oh, and Yusuke too. I can't really hang out with Yusuke until the two weeks are over. So then, what am I gonna do until then?_

She slowly pushed the blankets off of her, and also unexpectedly pushed herself off the bed and onto the hard floor. "Oh, what a wonderful morning this is," Hikari said in pain as she slowly got up and changed in a bad mood.

After brushing her teeth and hair, she grabbed her schoolbag and marched towards the front door. As she pulled on her shoes, Oyuun came out of the bathroom and said, "Geeze, someone's in a bad mood."

Too frustrated on the inside, Hikari didn't even feel like replying and just left. As she walked to school, anyone that walked by her felt this really dangerous air around her and thus, avoided her.

"Good morning, Hikari."

Hikari half-expected it to be a certain someone, but she was slightly disappointed and also slightly happy at the same time.

"Yo. It's been a while Shuichi," she said still not in the best of moods.

"I guess since you're walking to school today, you must've moved back in with your sister," he said.

"Yeah," she replied half-heartedly.

"Is there something wrong?"

"There's just a bunch of stuff that I don't feel ready to talk about yet."

Kurama's usual smile seemed to shine brighter towards his cousin. "There's no rush," he said. "It's getting colder nowadays isn't it? I suppose winter is fast approaching."

The conversation between the two relatives soon died as Hikari was wrapped up in her own thoughts while her mood quietly became worse and worse.

At school, Hikari entered her classroom with a walk that was not uncommon to the usual male high school delinquent. She decided that it was time for a change of seats, so she walked to the back of the classroom and picked the very far corner by the window. A boy was sitting in it, but all Hikari did was toss him to the side.

"Hey, who the hell do you think you are?! That's my seat!" the boy yelled at her.

Hikari mugged at him and pulled out a black marker from her backpack. She then began to write on the desk. Moving the desk around so he could read it from where he was standing, she said, "Don't fuck with me brat."

The boy glared at Hikari and said, "You think you're such a big shot. Your last name is Morino huh? My parents were bullied by Morinos in high school. They hated them, the yakuza scum. I bet you're related to trash like them. I hate them as well, so much that I even remembered their names. Dameon and Mattias-"

The boy was about to continue, but he was met my Hikari's fist and was sent flying across the room, and into a few desks and people.

"They're not trash," she said in a deathly low voice as she slowly walked over. "The yakuza ain't scum either, and… DAMN STRAIGHT I'M RELATED TO DAMEON AND MATTIAS!! I'm their little sister. …Congratulations, classmate. You have just made enemies with a Morino."

Her classmate used the wall for support to try and stand up. "Heh… you're trash," he laughed, "just like your brothers."

Hikari didn't hold back as she suddenly kicked him in the chest, sending him over the wall and through the hallway window making him land in the hallway. Jumping through the broken window, Hikari stood over her classmate and started kicking him in the chest and stomach.

At that time, Kira had just arrived and was watching in awe.

The enraged teen picked up her victim by his hair with ease and pulled him over to one of the unbroken hallway windows. First she pushed his face up against the cold glass window, and then Hikari pulled back his head and smashed it through with full force.

There was glass all over the place, and Hikari's victim was bloody and cut up all over.

The boy was bent over the wall that separated the classroom and the hallway and where the window was. His upper body was rested on a broken glass covered desk.

Hikari's hand had shards of glass in it with blood running, but the pain went unrecognized as she only felt the hatred and rage that pumped through her bloodstream. She grabbed his hair and pulled him up.

"This is what you get when you fuck with a Morino," Hikari whispered in a sinisterly playful way. "Just think about what will happen when the yakuza gets involved."

With whatever strength he had, he replied quietly and in pain, "…I'll… call the police…"

There was a deep chuckle that had risen from Hikari's throat that escalated into a loud maniac laughter that echoed through the halls. Out of nowhere she stopped and whispered, "Like I'd let you get the chance… Have fun living in fear."

With that said, Hikari clasped both hands together, brought them over her head, and struck down hard with such force that it made the boy collapse unconscious on the floor with the possibility of being paralyzed in the legs.

Before leaving the school, Hikari went back inside the classroom to fetch her bag. Without a word, she walked towards the stairs. When she walked past Kira he grabbed her by the wrist. She tried to take back her wrist, but he kept a firm grip. He gave a small smile as he asked, "How's about we go on that date?"

Hikari glared at him and out of nowhere, someone blocked Kira from getting to Hikari.

"Leave Miss Hikari alone! She's obviously in a bad mood right now!" came Chieko's voice.

Kira sighed and said sincerely, "Could you please move aside? I'm trying to make Hikari feel better."

The two of them were locked in a staring contest. "Hey. The three of us will go out," Hikari said acting as the adult. "Let's go."

Hikari started walking and Kira and Chieko soon followed. They took the train and started walking by restaurants. Chieko and Kira had been bickering since they ditched school and they were so preoccupied with it that they didn't notice when Hikari stopped in front of a restaurant. They only realized it when they saw that they weren't following anyone.

Not sparing them a glance, Hikari entered the restaurant. "Welcome," the chef greeted. Hikari gave a small bow to them before taking a seat.

Kira and Chieko came in soon after and sat in the seats across from her. Glancing at the menu, Chieko asked, "Do you like curry, Miss Hikari?"

Hikari nodded without lowering her menu.

"Welcome to the Kanou Curry House," a young waitress greeted. "Can I start you off with some drinks? If you're ready with your orders I can take them now as well."

_Kanou… Kanou. Kanou… Why does that name sound familiar? Oh well, anyway…_

"I'll have leek curry and green tea please," Hikari said while closing the menu.

"I'll have the same please," Chieko said.

"Chicken curry and water please," Kira said.

The waitress bowed once she finished writing their orders and then walked away.

Once she was gone, Chieko smiled and said, "I'm so happy I'm out here with you, Miss Hikari!"

"Ah, that's right," Hikari spoke in an exhausted voice. "Thanks for earlier… even though Kira is with us in the end."

"Oh, no. It was nothing," Chieko said with a side glare towards Kira.

Suddenly, Hikari's cell phone started to vibrate. She pulled it out of her skirt pocket and flipped it open.

_One new message. "Oho! I got your e-mail from Jin. v( 'w ') Heh heh. Reply back!"_

Hikari laughed to herself and started writing a reply.

_Yo. I better not get any perverted e-mails from you. ( -w- ) Oh, nice emoticon by the way. rolls eyes Yeah, right. As if. Ha-ha._

"Who was that, Miss Hikari?" Chieko asked.

"Just a friend of mine," Hikari replied while closing her cell phone.

Chieko opened her mouth to say something, but then the waitress came with their food. "Sorry for the wait. Here's your food."

Hikari gave a small nod and mumbled, "Thank you."

The leek curry was placed in front of her and Hikari got a pair of chopsticks. "Thank you for the food," she said before she began to eat.

After taking her first bite, Chieko said, "This is really good curry, Miss Hikari! I knew you had a good sense of taste."

"Mm," Hikari mumbled in agreement. She was slightly distracted by the taste of the leek curry.

_The taste is slightly familiar, but it's not as good… But why?_

They kept eating with Chieko and Kira throwing snide remarks at each other.

_BZZ. BZZ._

Hikari opened her cell phone and read the new e-mail.

"_Ah, crap. Jin saw me writing an e-mail and somehow knew I was e-mailing you. ( -w- ) Anyway, are you in school right now?"_

Hikari immediately e-mailed him back.

_No, I'm not. I ditched school since I nearly killed my classmate Nobody talks shit about my nii-samas. I should've killed him. All I got to do was possibly paralyze him._

Hikari put away her cell phone and finished up her food. She was taking out her wallet when two hands were suddenly touching hers. She looked up in bewilderment to see two very eager faces.

"Don't worry! I'll pay for your food!" Kira and Chieko said in unison.

With a shrug, she pulled her hand back from her schoolbag and got up. Before leaving her two admirers, she bowed to the chef and walked out the door. Hikari was walking back to the train station when someone started walking next to her.

She glanced for a moment and then did a double take. "Hiei?" she said. "You're the least likely to suddenly walk next to me. What is it?"

"We're going to go see Koenma," Hiei said.

A frown of concern quickly formed on Hikari's forehead. "What about Yusuke?"

"What about that idiot?"

"He told me that Keiko's forcing him to go to school and do homework for two weeks straight!"

"Obviously he's not coming then. C'mon," Hiei said as they quickly boarded a train. "So much for being a Spirit Detective."

"Hey Hiei," Hikari said as she sat down. "Why did you come to get me?"

Hiei wasn't going to answer quickly. He simply took the seat across from her in the empty train and looked out the window.

"Hey, pipsqueak! I'm talking to you!" It had only been a few minutes, but she was already getting pissed. "Tell me!"

"There are some things that you should know about a person, and there are some things you wouldn't want to know."

The rest of the ride back was mostly quiet besides Hikari pestering Hiei because she was simply bored. On more than one occasion, Hiei burst out at her, which didn't make her scared but quite the contrary. Hikari found it very interesting to see Hiei get angry.

They got off the train and were greeted.

"Hiei, Hikari," Kurama greeted while Kuwabara simply stood there. "I'm glad you got here safely."

"Get this girl away from me before I kill her, Kurama," Hiei said in a low voice while walking past his friend.

Kurama chuckled and asked Hikari, "How was the train ride back?"

"… It was interesting. I never thought I could get Hiei start yelling at me in one train ride," she said while looking over at the angry demon. "So are we going now?"

"Yes, I suppose we shall," Kurama said while starting to walk off.

"Man, I guess Urameshi ain't coming after all," Kuwabara said and they all made their way to Spirit World.

"So what is it Koenma?" Hikari asked once she walked through the door.

"Well aren't you straightforward," Koenma said, "There's been some development-"

"We know who the demon is?" Kuwabara interrupted. Hikari's eyes widened and she looked from Kuwabara to Koenma.

"We've figured out who sent you the love letter."

"THAT'S IT?! THAT'S ALL YOU'VE COME UP WITH?!" Hikari exploded. "EVEN I HAVE MANAGED TO FIGURE THAT ONE OUT WITH ALL THE LOVE LETTERS AND CANDY I'VE BEEN GETTING, AND YET EVEN THOUGH THAT IS ALL FIGURED OUT…"

Hikari paused a moment to breathe and calm down. "Even though I already know who is sending me love letters, that doesn't change a thing. Any one of them could be the demon now. There can't really be a way to determine which one it is out of the whole lot of them. Maybe I should just die," she said getting more and more depressed with every syllable.

"Don't be absurd, Hikari," Koenma said light-heartedly. Hikari looked at him in surprise and saw him smiling. "We wouldn't allow something like that. Your death would not make anything easier. The demon that's after you would still be at large among the humans, and we'd all have one less friend."

"I guess so," she muttered. "That still doesn't help what's going on."

"That doesn't make it any worse though," Koenma pointed out. He gave her a small smile and said, "All we can do is wait. I hope you can put up with that."

Hikari sighed and turned away. As she walked towards the door, she said, "Fine, whatever."

After she exited the large office, she headed towards the kitchen. "What's wrong with Hikari?" Kurama asked.

"She's probably just going through a lot," Kuwabara said thoughtfully. "Urameshi told me that she moved back in with her sister last night. He said that while they were walking the air around them was pretty awkward after he told her that Keiko was forcing him to go to school and do homework for the next two weeks."

"I'm sure Hikari's got other friends besides Yusuke, doesn't she?" Koenma asked.

"I'm not sure you can consider the yakuza as friends," Kurama said. "They're more like family I suppose. I don't go to school with her so I wouldn't know any of her friends from school."

All of them looked at Kuwabara, who looked a little guilty. He was scratching the back of his head when he said, "In all honesty, I'd say she's best friends with Yusuke. I pretty sure she's got some people in her classroom that she maybe talks to, but I think Yusuke is her best friend. They've got a lot in common."

All of them were quiet as they contemplated their own thoughts concerning Hikari. They all worried about her and hoped that she'd get by without needing their help. The first person to make any movement in somehow getting past the weird air surrounding them was Hiei, who left the room completely with no questions asked.

The remaining three in the room looked at the door where their shortest member had just exited from. Koenma stood and said, "I suppose this is the end of our meeting."

All of them shuffled out of the office and tried to locate their two friends. As they approached the kitchen, they heard voices and decided to listen in before entering.

"…Don't you have any friends besides us?" came Hiei's voice.

"I guess. I mean… I don't think I'm that close to them but," Hikari said as she was cooking food, "I guess if you want to call them that. They might be more like acquaintances."

"Who are?"

"Two of my classmates," she replied. "Kira Sayaki and Chieko Yamaguchi, but I think they just like me so I don't know if you can consider friendship."

"Did you have any friends while growing up?" Hiei asked trying to sound interested in what he was talking about. He honestly didn't give a damn about her life in the least but he decided to save everyone time from hassling about him to gather information while avoiding touchy subjects by going to her directly and asking.

She stirred the food in the pan and said, "I guess once I moved to Japan. His name was Yami, and he moved away the summer before fourth grade started."

"Is that supposed to be some kind of joke with your names?" Hiei asked. "Light and Dark?"

Hikari laughed and said, "I thought so too but it just happened to be like that."

"So is that the only friend you've had?"

"Yeah. I used to fight with all the other kids so I didn't really make many friends," she said while sliding the contents of the pan onto a plate. After putting the pan in the sink, Hikari got a bowl of rice and placed it on the table across from Hiei.

"Many thanks for the food," Hikari said before taking a bite of her food.

Curiosity more than anything else bit at Hiei and therefore asked impulsively, "Isn't that lonely?"

Looking up at Hiei, Hikari's eyes were wide, her eyebrows were raised, and her cheeks full with food. Hiei looked away and said, "You look like a monkey."

Hikari coughed nearly choking on her food. She carefully chewed and swallowed while thinking about the question. "I guess it is pretty lonely," she said before continuing to eat, "but I'm used to it so I guess that's fine."

"It's always 'I guess' with you," Hiei said. "Is there anything you're sure of?"

"Yeah," she said while walking over to the fridge to grab a drink. "You're talking an awful lot to me and I know it isn't because you're interested."

She sat back down with her drink placed before her and Hiei staring at her in amazement and hatred. "Even though making me feel better isn't what you intended, thanks anyway. I'm grateful to those that even pretend to care," Hikari said before finishing her food.

Hiei was flabbergasted. He thought he would never see this hardcore delinquent in such a vulnerable state.

When Hikari looked up and saw Hiei look at her with a look in his eyes that she couldn't quite tell what it was, she looked away and asked, "What's with that look?"

Hiei returned to his usual glare. "It's nothing you ignorant human," he spat.

Hikari laughed and stood up while picking up her plates. "Whatever you say, Hiei," she said while she walked over to the kitchen sink to wash her plates.

* * *

Whoo. Chapter 19 Finished!


	20. Some Ultramarine Colored Town

Hello! Welcome to the 20th chapter! This chapter is not the last one, but beware, the next one just may be! I have already started the 21st chapter so hopefully I'll post it up soon if I hurry up and finish writing it.

**Disclaimer: **Who owns Yu Yu Hakusho? Not me! Yoshihiro Togashi does!

**Warning: **The following is rated M for violence and vulgar language. Read with caution.

* * *

Hikari laughed and stood up while picking up her plates. "Whatever you say, Hiei," she said while she walked over to the kitchen sink to wash her plates.

When they arrived back in the human world, the sun was still shining, but the weather had drastically changed. It was terribly windy and the air was cold. Hikari, in her school shirt and skirt, rushed into the nearest store to buy a jacket.

Kuwabara was the only one to accompany Hikari since Hiei was already long gone when they returned and Kurama had to do something important.

The two of them were walking by Sarayashiki, when Kuwabara said, "I guess I'll walk you home. I wanna see if Urameshi is actually doing homework."

Hikari didn't give much of a reply, but just gave a grunt in acknowledgement.

When Kuwabara was knocking on Yusuke's apartment door, Hikari was searching for her keys in her schoolbag. Once she found the key, Yusuke's apartment door opened.

"Oh, Yusuke? He's at Keiko's place doing homework. I thought I was imagining it when he told me," Atsuko's voice came once Hikari finally got her door open. "Oh! Hikari!"

"Uh, yes?" Hikari replied sticking her head out of her apartment.

Atsuko put on her best apologetic drunken face and said, "Sorry to trouble you, but do you think you could cook some dinner for me and Yusuke?"

A little unsure of what happened, Hikari nodded with her eyes on Atsuko. "Y-yeah. Leave it up to me. Is there anything specific you'd like to eat?"

Kuwabara, who was still standing there, looked back and forth between his friend and her drunken neighbor.

"Yaki niku!" slurred Yusuke's mother.

Hikari gave a nod and stepped out of her apartment completely and said, "I'll go and buy the ingredients now then."

Squeezing past Kuwabara, Hikari made her way to the supermarket.

Later that evening, Hikari had cooked dinner and brought it over to Atsuko's place.

"Why don't you stay and eat with us once Yusuke gets home?" Atsuko asked before letting out a disturbing burp.

"No, thank you," Hikari apologized while handing over the food. "I've still got chores to do. Please enjoy the yaki niku."

Hikari returned to her own apartment and ate dinner before relaxing in front of the television watching one of her favorite shows, Crayon Shin-chan. Out of exhaustion, fell asleep on her couch.

When Oyuun came home later that night, she saw the television blaring and Hikari with half her body dangling off the couch. Oyuun shook her head and got a blanket from Hikari's bedroom. Before she placed it on her, Oyuun made sure her little sister wasn't going to fall off and then tucked her in. Oyuun lowered the volume on the television before going to her own room to sleep.

In the morning, Hikari awoke very disoriented under very comfy blankets, but with a stiff neck. She yawned and stretched with her feet sticking out from under the blanket. She quickly drew her feet back under the warm blanket before attempting to go back to sleep.

"Hikari, shouldn't you be going to school right about now?" Oyuun asked as she walked into the living room.

"I'm not feeling well," Hikari replied sleepily. "I think I might've caught something when I went out yesterday."

"Fine. Whatever," Oyuun brushed her sister off. "I'm going to work now. I'll see you later."

Hikari sat up and then walked over to her television with her blanket held tightly around her cold form. She looked at her DVD collection and thought about which anime she wanted to watch. Once she spotted it, she knew she had to watch it and quickly popped it into the DVD player.

She crawled back onto the couch with the DVD control in hand and pressed play. Despite this being one of her favorite movies, Hikari couldn't fight off the sleep that was beckoning her to close her eyes and offer her a dream.

"When the sky turns black, why do I feel so blue?" Hikari's dream-self said as she walked around in a black empty space. She spun around to sounds of trains rushing past her and people talking. With ever turn of her head, in the corner of her eye the black surrounding her would change to a whirr of color. Feeling dizzy, she held her head with both hands as she stumbled around trying to find her balance. "DON'T MESS WITH ME!!" Hikari's dream-self shouted and soon all the black shattered away to reveal a blinding white.

Hikari stood in her dreamland with her weight shifted onto one leg and her head leaning to one side. A bat suddenly appeared in her hands and she rested it on her shoulder. Swaying from side to side, it was as if Hikari could see everything that was there in the white space. Starting slow with a few small steps, the dreaming girl rushed forward into the white empty space that surrounded her. Her bat was brought above her head and she smashed it.

The white shattered like glass, just like the black did. Frustrated with this nothingness, Hikari tossed the bat away and began running. The corners of her eyes caught small images of people and shops. She clenched her eyes shut as she kept running as if the world was trying to leave her behind. All of a sudden, Hikari wasn't running anymore, and even if she wanted to, her body could. Hikari's dream-self opened her eyes and looked up.

The sky in her world was a light blue with clouds that didn't cease moving. Looking up at the big sky, it was as if Hikari was falling backward and before falling she saw something in the clouds. Him.

"OUCH!!" Hikari had woken up rolling off the couch and falling onto the floor. Her dream had left her completely disoriented. She couldn't even tell where she was until she looked at the television to see one of her favorite movies had just ended and the theme song "Aru Machi no Gunjou" was playing.

She rubbed her face and scratched the top of her head before going into her room and changing. All she had on her mind was that dream. The end is what really had shaken Hikari up a bit. She had seen someone's face in the clouds, but she couldn't remember whose face it was.

In the middle of all her worrying, there was a knock at the door.

Hikari ran over to the door and opened it. She was surprised to see Kira there. Kira also seemed surprised to see her there.

"What a shocker," he said. "Just a few days ago, you came rolling to school in a foreign car and you and Yusuke had a fight in class about you moving out."

Hikari looked at her watch and then back up at Kira. Despite having a nice face to look at without it being awkward, Hikari looked at him with nothing but disinterest. She scratched her brow with her thumbnail and said, "It is one in the afternoon. I know that Sarayashiki is having lunch right now. What the hell do you want?"

Kira chuckled uncomfortably and said, "Mister Kawamura-"

"Who?"

"Mister Kawamura," He repeated. Hikari sported a nice blank and clueless expression that reminded Kira of when Hikari didn't know his name or who he was. "He's our homeroom teacher-"

"OHHHH!!" she said with loads of enthusiasm. "Yeah, I have no clue as to who our teachers are. I don't know the names or faces of any of them."

"Well, Mister Kawamura told me to give you your homework," Kira said while handing her the books.

Hikari tossed them aside and said, "Yeah, already did it a long ass time ago. Is there anything else that you'd like to waste my time with?"

Kira smirked and said, "Let's go on a date."

Hikari fixed her shoes lined up at the door with her toes and she said, "You know, you're not half-bad looking Kira. I'm sure you've got loads of chicks throwing themselves at you so go hang out with one of them."

Hikari was closing the door, but Kira stopped her. "That may be true, but none of them are you."

Kira half expected her to actually be swayed by the line, but he should've seen it coming when Hikari burst out in complete laughter. When she calmed down, she told it to him straight. "That was the gayest shit anyone has ever said to me. You've got balls though so I guess maybe I will go with you."

Hikari put on her shoes and they left the apartment. It was when they boarded the train that Hikari decided to ask, "So where exactly are we going? I've been following you this entire time and I have no idea where we're going."

Kira sighed and said, "You shouldn't be so carefree. What if I was gonna kidnap you or something?"

"I could hella take you on. Hella," she said without a doubt. "So tell me where we're going."

"It's a secret," he said when the doors were opening and other passengers were getting off. When the doors closed and the passengers were safely on the platform, Hikari let Kira have an earful.

Kira led her to the place and when they had arrived, she stood and just looked up at the entrance. "I was just here like a few months ago. Why here?"

"Don't you remember?" Kira asked, slightly hurt.

"Dude, you've seriously got to take into consideration that it's me you're talking to. I've got the attention span of a- Hey! That ride looks fun!" Hikari said as she bought a ticket and entered the amusement park.

Kira sighed and followed after her. They were in line for a ride when he said, "This is where we first met."

"What? You serious?" she asked only slightly interesting in what he was talking about. The ride was far too awesome to pay attention.

"Yeah. You dropped a stuffed animal and I picked it up for you," he said with a soft smile.

Hikari and Kira spent the entire afternoon at the amusement park having fun on their so called date. There was nothing that could spoil her good mood. They both had a spectacular time there, but Hikari was slightly disgusted by the hot dogs that Kira got for them.

The two of them returned home by the time the streetlights were on and it was so chilly that they could see their breaths in front of their faces. "That was fun," Hikari admitted. "Thanks, Kira."

"It was nothing," he said as they walked down the dark street. "You want me to walk you home?"

She shook her head and jumped a few steps ahead of him. Looking back at him, she said, "You should get going home. I'll see you tomorrow at school!"

Hikari enjoyed going out and hanging out with Kira that day, so she decided to hang out with him the next day, and the next day, and the next day, until she realized that Yusuke was going to be free from Keiko forcing him to do homework in just a few days.

"Hikari! I'm leaving now!" Oyuun shouted as she left the apartment.

Hikari crawled out of bed lazily. It was the weekend and Hikari had no plans whatsoever. As if on cue, Hikari got an e-mail on her cell.

"_Hey. What's up? -Jin"_

Hikari quickly e-mailed him back.

_Nothing much. You actually have excellent timing. Are you busy right now?_

Hikari got out of bed and brushed her teeth while waiting for his e-mail back. She also had enough time to change her clothes.

"_Nope. You wanna go and do something?"_

_YES!!_

_One new message. "I'll pick you up in a few minutes then! 3 (Look it's a kite in the shape of a heart!)"_

…_You're gay, you know that?_

Hikari fixed her hair and left her apartment, only to bump into someone unexpectedly and falling backwards.

"Oh, Hikari,' Yusuke said as he helped her up. "It's been a while."

"Uh- yeah," she replied awkwardly. Her heart was beating fast and Hikari couldn't look Yusuke in the eye.

"Can you believe that after just a few more days I'll finally be free from Keiko's clutches," Yusuke said full of excitement, "and the first thing we're gonna do is cut class!"

Hikari gave a weak smile hen she heard a car honk. The two of them looked over to the street and saw Kino in his car. After waving over to Kino, Hikari turned to Yusuke and said, "Yeah… I better get going. I'll be seein' ya."

The teenage girl ran over to the car and hopped inside. Fixing the rear view mirror, the pierced yakuza member said, "There's this movie that I want to see. Wanna go?"

Hikari nodded.

_Hmm… Watching a movie seems like a good idea._

"Hey Hikari," Kino whispered. "Read me the subtitles."

"Why don't you read them?!"

"I can't read kanji," he admitted.

Hikari immediately took back what she thought earlier. Deciding that the movie was a bad choice, the two of them went and snuck into another one. Despite the change in movie, Hikari could barely focus on it no matter how hard she tried. Eventually, Hikari gave up trying to watch the movie and just let her thoughts run wild.

After the movie, Kino and Hikari walked out of the theaters with Kino feeling energized and excited. "So Hikari, what do you think was the best scene?"

"Huh? Eh, wha?"

"What was the best scene in the movie?"

"Ah, uh… the one with the person doing that thing…" she replied distractedly not even quite sure where she was.

"Yeah, it was wasn't it?" Kino replied not having a problem with her answer with his thoughts being completely engulfed with the movie.

They returned to the car and as they drove, Kino asked, "Where do you wanna go now?"

"Hey, just drive me home," she said obviously frustrated with something.

Sensing her uneasiness, he glanced over to her and asked, "What's jammed up your ass? Did you not like the movie?"

She sat up straight in her seat and reassured him, "No, no. It's not that! It's just that I've got a lot on my mind right now."

"Why don't you tell me about it?"

"Even if I could form one sentence about it, I wouldn't know where to begin." Kino giggled and Hikari sent him a glare. "What are you laughing at?"

He placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "I think our little Hikari is hitting puberty," he said in a mockingly motherly voice. "She might've discovered her true feelings for a boy."

Hikari began hitting him, making Kino swerve into the oncoming traffic lane. "You bastard!! How rude!!"

Kino dropped her off at home, but before she got out of the car, he said, "Hey. Don't forget that you can always call me or Jin when you need to talk, alright?"

"Gotcha," she replied with a peace sign before exiting the car. Once Hikari was inside her apartment, she immediately hopped into the bath.

"Aaaaah," she sighed in relief as she slipped into the nice hot bath.

…_What's wrong with me? Every time they pop into my head, my heart skips before beating faster. Kino can't be right can he? I didn't suddenly just become obsessed over guys have I? I mean, I've had crushes before right? That doesn't mean that just because of this one guy I'm suddenly madly in love does it?_

"Grahh!" she grumbled to herself before sinking a little deeper into the bath and making bubbles in the water with her mouth.

Later that day, Hikari decided to go back out again so went to the arcade. Hikari was playing a free racing game since she won the last race when she noticed a bunch of punks trying to hit on a couple of girls.

Getting up from her seat, the fearless confused girl approached them. Upon closer look, one of the girls was Chieko. Hikari walked towards them angrily.

"Who th-" The guy couldn't even finish his question before Hikari punched him in the nose sending him to the ground with a broken nose.

She wasn't really pissed or even angry at these guys, but she was full of so much whirling and swirling emotions that it didn't matter who the hell she bitch slapped as long as she wasn't tense anymore. It was like a twister that had blown in all of a sudden.

After knocking the first guy out, Hikari grabbed the next guy by the collar with both hands and threw him into a pool table instantaneously making his limbs go limp.

The next guy actually pulled out a pocket knife on her and Hikari frowned. He came at her and she dodged his stab. Hikari, in turn, broke the wrist that was holding the knife. The guy went down to his knees clutching his broken wrist. Hikari picked up the knife, shoved the guy to the ground sprawled out and stabbed the guy in his attacking hand, and making it go through all the way and into the crack in the ground so that he was stuck there screaming in agony.

There was one more guy that Hikari had to take care of. The guy was slightly insane now that he saw what happened and managed to get Hikari by the neck with his hands.

Now she was seriously pissed off. It was like, "WHO THE FUCK JUST TOUCHED HIKARI MORINO?!" Her thoughts were quite "ghetto" now that someone had just got her, and by the neck too.

_Oh FUCK no. This bitch ain't touchin' me is he? This muthafucka better get his dirty ass hands off me before I rip them off and choke him with it._

Hikari glared at him while just standing there as if he wasn't trying to choke her. He was actually trying his best to crush her spine of cut off her breathing, but luck just wasn't on his side. Hikari grabbed his wrists and thanks to her moderately long nails, dug into his skin.

His grip slowly released her, revealing a slightly pink tint on her pale neck. She didn't let up on digging her nails into his skin though. On the contrary, she dug deeper until she saw ten different streams of blood flowing from his arms. When Hikari finally let him go, the guy dropped to his knees looking at his arms in pain and then looking up to Hikari with a glare. What a big mistake. Hikari kicked him in the side of the head quickly knocking him out unconscious and sliding headfirst into a fighting game.

"Miss Hikari!" Chieko said. In the background, they could hear sirens ringing.

The four of them ended up in a park far from the crime scene, washing Hikari's hands in a water fountain. Once Hikari cleaned her hands and nails and wiped them off with her handkerchief, she apologized.

"W-what?" Chieko stuttered.

Hikari sat on the swings and said, "Sorry for earlier. It seems I went a little overboard."

Chieko and her friends immediately waved their hands in front of their faces and she said, "No! It wasn't overboard at all! It was amazing, Miss Hikari! Truly amazing!"

"The last time was amazing too!" said the one named Ayu.

After a while, Ayu and the other girl had to leave Chieko and Hikari alone together at the swing sets.

"This may be out of line and rude to ask, Miss Hikari, but are you alright?" Chieko asked as she swung next to the person she loved the most.

Hikari winced as she looked up to the bright cloudy sky and said, "Eh, I'm not sure anymore."

"You can tell me, Miss Hikari! I'm a good listener and I promise I wouldn't tell anyone."

Hikari moved sideways like a crab so that she was scooting over to Chieko on her swing and Chieko followed suit. Leaning in, Hikari whispered into her ear.

"EHHHHHHHH?!" Chieko exclaimed.

Hikari had confessed her problems to Chieko, but was no longer worrying about them at all as she had released her stress on those punks from earlier. Hikari looked at her watch and said, "Oh crap. It's this late in the afternoon already? I better get going! I'll see ya around Chieko!"

Hikari ran off somewhere with Chieko sitting open mouthed out of shock. When she collected herself, she took a deep breath in and put a hand to her mouth.

'Oh my god. Miss Hikari just told me a secret!' she thought just before picking up her bag and walking off somewhere.

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I hope that people that don't have fanfiction account know that they can still give a review as anonymous. So from everyone, I'd like to hear/read what you think the secret that Hikari told to Chieko is! Thank you for reading!


	21. Bittersweet Snow

Hello! It's been almost three weeks since I last updated. This is NOT the last chapter. I assure you. I repeat. This is NOT the last chapter. Overall, I am mostly happy with this chapter and I would say there is definitely some OOC in it so I am honestly very sorry for that since if a character is really out-of-character then I get pissed off. Hopefully the character isn't too out there.

**Warning:** This is rated M for violence and language.

**Disclaimer: **Obviously I don't own any part of Yu Yu Hakusho.

**Note:** If at all possible, listen to "One More Time, One More Chance Piano Version" on YouTube or something. It was my main muse through writing this chapter so if you would please.

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The next day, Sunday, Hikari was mostly sleeping. She had stayed up Saturday night watching her regular anime and dramas. Her sleep was blissful, which was completely opposite of events to come.

When she had finally woken up late in the afternoon, she and Kira had made last minute plans to go on a date.

The two of them were walking around a mall. They sat in the food court with smoothies in their hands.

"Hey, where were you yesterday?" Kira asked with a small furrow of his brow. "I tried calling you, but you didn't answer."

"Why are you so possessive?" Hikari asked plainly as she stirred her drink with the straw. "We aren't a couple so there's no need to call or see each other every single day."

"I'm not possessive," he defended himself. "You could've at least called me back or something."

Hikari shrugged and sipped her strawberry smoothie. "I was busy. It's not like I think about you 24/7 either," she replied while getting up. She tossed her empty cup in the trash and Kira had to rush to catch up with her.

Later that day, Hikari and Kira parted ways on their date. Hikari went to the park and sat on the swing set to collect her thoughts. She was slightly lecturing on forgetting something.

_God... it's tomorrow isn't it? I'm a bad sister for forgetting. That can't be helped now though._

Hikari returned home that day and lay on her bed for the night just thinking about what the next day would bring. Soon enough, the sun's rays had seeped through her blinds and cut into her endless night.

She wasn't really paying attention to when Oyuun came into her room and said, "Hikari, someone named Kira is here."

It took Hikari quite a long moment to realize what was going on. Sitting up in bed, she realized that she hadn't changed out of what she was wearing yesterday. Taking her time, Hikari pulled on a big warm sweater, suitable for the cold weather, and went to the door.

Hikari squinted up at him and asked, "Why are you here?"

"I figured you wouldn't be coming to school today either," he said as they both looked upon the busy street below them. "The media has got the school surrounded and most of the students are getting harassed in the morning and when they leave. I thought I could use a break from that."

"I'm not someone you can go to because I'm always available. Go play hookie with someone else," Hikari said. "I actually have somewhere to go today."

"Then let's go together," Kira said sincerely as he looked her in the eyes.

Hikari didn't even put up a fight. She just started walking and he followed. They passed Sarayashiki, where the outside of the school was infested with news reporters. Nearby, Hikari went into a supermarket, where she bought two different bouquets, oranges, matches and incense.

They were still walking a few blocks further when the cemetery came into view. Kira looked to the sky and said, "Geeze. It looks like it's going to start raining soon."

Hikari and Kira walked wordlessly into the cemetery, with the only sounds being the passing of cars, their footsteps, and the brush of the plastic bags against Hikari's legs.

They arrived at the graves, where Hikari wasted no time in taking the items she had previously purchased out of their plastic bags. The silent girl with a sad frown on her face plunged one incense stick into each orange and stood to line them up on top of the gravestones. She took out her lighter and after a little trouble at first, lit them all. Kneeling back down, Hikari carefully placed the bouquets in the middle of the two gravestones.

_Please, Dameon and Mattias... rest in peace another year. It's been ten years now. Hopefully you have been in peace this entire time, not holding grudges against anyone. Please, continue to watch over me. Take care up there, alright?_

Hikari prayed for her brothers with intensity and passion with her eyes shut tight hoping that when they would open she'd see them on the day of the anniversary of their death.

Kira was standing behind her, looking at the top of her head and at the names on the graves. "These are your older brothers?" he asked monotonously.

Hikari stood up and without facing him replied, "Yeah. They died on this day ten years ago."

Kira leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Then how would you like to go with them?"

Hikari was scared stiff now.

He switched over to the other ear and whispered, "Did I ever mention that you have the smell of strawberries?"

The key to the destruction of the world tried to run away, but Kira gave her a bear hug from behind.

"Don't think you can get away from me!! This special body was made to hide my demonic spirit energy and made to make any human I touch weak!! You're useless against- OOF!"

Suddenly, something had sent Kira backwards onto the ground and Hikari made a run for it towards the entrance. It didn't take long for Kira to get up on his feet though.

Meanwhile, Botan had interrupted Yusuke's class to warn him. Right in the middle of the lesson, he got out of his desk and ran through the hall with Keiko, who now had a broken heart, watching him running.

'Just hold on Hikari! I'm coming!' he thought to himself as he pushed himself to run faster and faster.

Hikari was nearing the front of the cemetery, when she heard Kira shouting angrily. As she ran, she looked over her shoulder a couple times to see what was going on, but nearly tripped in the process.

Once she was out of the cemetery and crossing the street, she looked back to see what was going on with Kira.

"LET ME GO!!"

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HIKARI!!"

"WE WOULD NEVER LET SOMEONE LIKE YOU GET ANYWHERE NEAR OUR SISTER WHO WE CAME BACK TO JAPAN FOR!!"

The last thing Hikari saw were those two faces she had always wanted to see again ever since she was five. Her brothers were holding back Kira with all their might.

"HIKARI!!"

Yusuke ran over to her body, which was lying sprawled out in the street. The truck driver had crashed into a light post, but he quickly climbed out to check on the girl.

"Hey damn it... GET UP!!" Yusuke shouted at her as he gave her cheeks a light slap. Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Botan soon arrived at the scene. "Hikari... get up!!"

Kurama kneeled down next to her and checked her pulse. After a minute, he held her hand in his before laying it down on the cold concrete. As he got up, Kurama let the bangs hang in front of his eyes to avoid the gazes of the others.

"GET UP HIKARI!!" Yusuke shouted into the cold.

Botan slowly approached him and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Yusuke, she's dead."

"I'm so sorry," the truck driver said before kneeling on the ground in the most respectful bow.

"SHE ISN'T DEAD SO QUIT APOLOGIZING!!" Yusuke shouted with tears as he looked down at Hikari's pale face in his lap.

"Yusuke, she really is dead," said Koenma from behind them all.

"Why hasn't her spirit come out then?" he asked bitterly.

"We in Spirit World have linked this to her brothers, and their parents in Mongolia," Koenma replied.

"...What?"

"We haven't got it all quite figured out yet, but Hikari having those spectacular powers and her brothers being ghosts-"

"Not being able to die is more like it," someone interrupted.

They looked over and saw Hikari's brothers walking over to them.

"What exactly are you saying?" Koenma asked. Yusuke was the only one of the group who couldn't look them in the eye.

"It's exactly as I said," Mattias said. "We are unable to die. Many times, when Hikari would come here and pray for us, it would fill us with such overwhelming joy that we would be ready to go to the other world, but yet, we're still here. We've even been escorted to try and get there, but at a certain point, we reappear back here."

"And now we see our younger sister die," Dameon said. "That is the one thing I never wanted to be witness to."

"Do you know why Hikari's spirit hasn't popped out?" Yusuke asked slowly.

Both of their faces turned stone cold and their eyes hard. "You can place blame for our inability to die and Hikari being spiritless on our parents. They have an experimental facility in Mongolia," Dameon said with his voice full of pure hatred. "We heard that after we 'died', we had left for a war."

"In actuality, we were taken to our parents in Mongolia, where we were instantly drugged and tested on," Mattias added.

Kuwabara took a step forward and asked, "What kinds of parents are they?! Testing on their own children?!"

"When we were conscious and still alive," Mattias said, "our mother told us that we possessed a special gene and to harness it experiments were supposed to bring that out."

"In the end," Dameon continued, "those experiments proved worthless on us and we were killed. Our half-deaths were the result of when we were being tested on."

"Hikari told us that she was born in Mongolia and when she went to Japan, that's when you left for another country," Kurama said solemnly. "Wouldn't that mean that she was tested on before you guys?"

"Our parents hadn't made their breakthrough until three years before Hikari was born. Their paper about this rare gene was a big hit, but they needed a test subject. It was natural to choose their next child as their first guinea pig. Most of the others were miscarriages," Dameon said. "From what we gathered afterwards, whatever method they tried using, it seemed as if the gene wouldn't grow without exposure to regular people. That's when she was sent to Japan with her adopted sister."

"But why did you two go to Mongolia?" Botan asked. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

Mattias looked at Hikari and kneeled down next to her. "Basically, our mother called us out of the blue and said that they had injected an undetectable slow-acting poison inside Hikari and she said that there was an antidote in Mongolia to save her life. Of course we believed it. We didn't know what kind of psychotic inventions they created."

The all went silent as the two older brothers, who looked so tired with their eyes full of tears that couldn't escape, looked down upon their most important person in the world.

Yusuke bit his lower lip and shouted, "YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO DIE DAMN IT!! AND TOMORROW WE WERE SUPPOSED TO CUT CLASS IN CELEBRATION!! YOU ASSHOLE!!"

Koenma, Kuwabara, Botan, and Kurama all looked up to the sky and saw snowflakes falling from the sky.

Mattias smiled to his younger brother and Dameon said while holding out his hand to catch a snowflake, "Finally, after all those days of rain and sadness, it finally has come to a restful snow."

Out of nowhere, Hiei seemed to rejoin the group. "Where were you Hiei?" Kurama asked quietly.

Hiei sheathed his sword quietly and replied, "I took care of some business for Hikari."

"Revenge, I assume?"

"Hn."

Hikari's cousin gave a terribly weak smile towards his embarrassed friend before walking over to Yusuke. "Yusuke, we should go and let Oyuun know. It's not healthy to be out here like this."

"Yeah," he replied stiffly. "Just give me a minute."

The gang slowly turned their backs and went towards Oyuun's apartment while Hikari's brothers seemed to vanish into nowhere leaving Yusuke alone with Hikari's dead body and the truck driver already long gone with his truck still at the crash site.

"Damn it, Hikari. How could you die like that?" Yusuke asked her as he subconsciously gripped her shoulder and arm tightly, feeling her cold skin underneath his hands. "We went through a lotta shit together, but these past two weeks have been hell. You don't know how bad I wanted to just ditch Keiko and go over to your place to watch wrestling…"

The snow fell on the two of them, both of them oblivious to the dropping temperatures.

"With you dead, we can't do some of the fun stuff we used to do," he admitted softening up to the realization that he was alone with her on this street. "You know, you worried me shitless when I saw you leave that one night. I thought you were leaving for good or something. I never thought that you'd actually leave like this though. Koenma can't even bring you back to life since you don't have a soul…"

A warm tear slid down Yusuke's freezing cheek, but he didn't wipe it off. Yusuke's eyes turned to have a soft and warm look in them, rather than the usual hard and slightly tormented one.

"To think you died like this," he said quietly while shaking his head, recalling his own death. "Hey Hikari, wherever you are, listen good okay? I'm only saying this once. I'm definitely too late in telling you this, but for lack of better words, I like you. Heh, you're the only girl worth more to me than Keiko. I guess I was too late in realizing that though."

Yusuke picked up Hikari and walked into the cemetery to where her brothers' graves were. Her brothers were patiently waiting there. Yusuke put her behind the two graved and positioned her as if she were sleeping, curled up in a little ball. "Stay here alright?" he said to her as he took off his green school jacket and laid it on top of her. "Hold tight. I'll be back. Oh, and don't worry. I'll make sure you get buried with your older brothers."

As he walked away, he thought, 'Don't worry Hikari. I'll get revenge on those parents of yours after your funeral. You can count on me.'

The funeral was held five days later, on a Friday. Dameon, Mattias, Oyuun, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei surprisingly, Koenma, Botan, Keiko, Chieko and the entire fanclub, all her classmates including the one she almost killed, Jin and the entire Onizuka family, and the school staff all attended. It was a large gathering of people.

When it was time to place a flower on her casket, Jin was getting in line when he saw the sad backs of two people with a familiar air around them. He quickly reached for Kino and pointed in their direction. "Look! Do you see them?"

Kino, who was a little annoyed by Jin's sudden outburst, squinted in the direction of where he was pointing. "See who? The monk?"

Jin did a double take and then sighed. "I guess you don't see then," Jin laughed to himself, as it was his turn to put a flower on her casket.

When he was walking towards the coffins, he took a sharp glance at the two and nearly fell over from shock. Masking his surprise, Jin continued to walk and gently place a flower on Hikari's closed casket.

A small tear fell from his eye, as he knew that her death was real. The casket wasn't the regular size for a normal person and was about a foot smaller than the normal ones.

When he was walking in between the two brothers, Jin paused for a moment while walking in time to whisper loud enough for them to hear, "As expected of her nii-samas."

Instead of walking back to his seat, he made his way to the back, behind all the seats next to a tree. He lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply and exhaled with a shaky breath. Jin adjusted his dark sunglasses with his gloved hands.

"Thank you for coming," Dameon said coming up from behind Jin. "I'm surprised the whole family is here."

Jin sniffled and asked, "So where's Hikari?"

"In that coffin," Mattias said.

"Shouldn't she be with you guys?" Jin folded his hands tightly and looked down at the ground. Dameon and Mattias kept quiet as they kept their stone cold faces with betraying eyes and stared on at their little sister's coffin. "So can you at least tell me why I see you guys?"

"I wish I had an answer to those two questions," Mattias said.

Jin wiped his eyes with his gloved hand and felt the cold leather against his eyelids. The weather was quite cold now, as it had become winter. He took another drag from his cigarette, which further numbed his cold lips and at the same time heated up his lungs.

"Could you tell me what happened in that war then?" Jin asked quietly as he tossed the butt of the cigarette into the snow, where it sizzled before going out.

"Our parents are the worst."

"No matter how surrounded Hikari was by the people that loved her the most, it was their fault she ended up alone in the end," Dameon said with his fists balled up and his throat swelled.

The sea of people dressed in black all had their heads bowed with sniffles and cries from the guests. All of them had sad faces no matter how strong of a person they were they felt that for this sort of occasion, it was okay to show how they feel.

Atsuko and Yusuke were sitting at the front. Atsuko was actually sober, but feeling guilty about all the sorts of menial tasks that she used to often trouble Hikari with. Yusuke was feeling burdened with a feeling of unsettlement. He thought that if he had gotten there sooner, then maybe she would've survived somehow, though highly unlikely.

Chieko was bawling so hard that she was close to the point of hyperventilating. Even though she didn't have anything to with the accident, she felt that if she had gone to check on Hikari that morning then she wouldn't have died.

Out of the mass of people that were there, the four of Hikari's relatives were all doing their best to stay strong. To them, only rational thoughts could be accepted. She died, so therefore there's nothing they could do about it.

Hikari and Hiei weren't the best of friends, but they had a few memorable moments as "friends". No matter how much Hiei denied such a small emotional attachment to a human, it was still Hiei who had killed Kira in revenge for Hikari.

Jin, Dameon, and Mattias all turned their gazes away from the painful sight and looked at the snow covering the surrounding area. Even in such a sad place, they could all recall a happier time from when they were all younger.

Jin recalled a time when Dameon and Mattias had already left for the so-called war, and he had reluctantly picked up Hikari from kindergarten and brought her to a park. He had let her run around on her own, while keeping a close eye, hoping that she'd tire herself out. She was crouched down digging frantically in the snow, when she suddenly stopped.

Wondering if she was okay, the teenaged Jin walked over and crouched down next to her. "Are you okay?" he asked with a small crack in his voice.

Hikari smiled so big that her eyes could barely be seen. She pointed to the ground with her entire hand, unable to point with a single finger because of her mittens. Jin looked and saw a pigeon slightly twitching. He made a face as if he had sucked on a lemon and thought, 'Ah… she's a little bit retarded…'

"Jin!! It's shtill awibe!! You can sabe it wight?" Hikari asked with her high-pitched kindergarten voice, which was slightly muffled behind a scarf.

The fifteen-year-old Jin stared at Hikari's rosy pink cheeks and thought. 'That's just adorable.'

"Jin!! You can sabe it wight?!" Hikari said angrily, only making Jin think she was even more adorable. One of her front teeth was missing and that was all he could focus on when the tiny kindergarten child opened her mouth. "Jin!!"

"Ah! Yeah, of course!" he replied instantaneously as he looked down at the pigeon. "Ah. It died."

He slowly looked up to look at Hikari's face and there was immediately tears and snot running down her face. 'Even when she's sad and pathetic she still looks cute,' Jin thought as he took out his handkerchief and wiped her face.

As for Dameon and Mattias, they had both had the same memory of Hikari. She was in preschool and it was also a snowy day and the two of them had decided to take her to the park. She had on her yellow hat and blue shirt and had fun running around in the snow.

The early twenty-year-olds carefully watched their little sister play in the snow, when suddenly Hikari fell through the snow with her yellow hat just above the surface. Both of them ran over to save their sister, but when they picked up her yellow hat, all they saw was a hole.

They heard a crunching sound behind them and saw Hikari's small head pop out of the snow like a gopher. She had the expression of being extremely lost and confused. Mattias and Dameon breathed a sigh of relief and went to go pick her up. Mattias held her and brushed the snow off her short pigtails. As he was brushing the snow off, Hikari let out a big sneeze.

"…" Mattias carefully handed over his little sister to his younger brother as he cleaned himself off. Hikari giggled as Dameon single-handedly took out his handkerchief from his back pocket and used it to wipe their sister's tiny red nose.

It was getting late now, and most of the guests had left the funeral. Jin was still standing with two of the most influential men in his life. His toes may have been frostbitten, but it was worth it. He didn't know if he was ever going to see them again.

The sky was dark and Jin was definitely going to come down with something the next day.

"Shouldn't you be going home?" Dameon asked. "Everyone else has already left."

Jin breathed into his gloved hands and tried to warm up his nose. He glanced at them with naivety shining in his eyes and said, "I'll wait for her with you guys. She wouldn't go without saying good-bye."

"You aren't a child anymore so start making adult decisions," Mattias scolded. "You're just like that boy with the gelled hair. It's ignorant to think that just because we're here that she'll reappear as well. When you're dead, you're dead. That's it. I'd rather her not have to wander around here like we have."

Jin noticed that Mattias had balled his hand in a fist.

"That's enough," Dameon said while placing a hand on Jin's shoulder. "Go home."

Dameon's transparent hand was weightless on Jin's shoulder. A tear quickly raced down Jin's cheek and he nodded understandingly. Reaching up to his own shoulder, he tried to place his hand on top of Dameon's but it went straight through. He laughed bitterly and said, "Yeah. I'll be going now."

Jin walked away with his shoulders slouched and his head down. Dameon and Mattias sat at their graves with their little sister's in the middle. Both of them cried silent tears the rest of the night.

The following week, Yusuke was walking to school in still sulking when he saw all the news reporters in front of Sarayashiki, just around the corner. He saw Kuwabara and said in a low tone, "No doubt they're gonna question us."

Kuwabara gave a small nod and said, "They're gonna wanna interview us since we're her best friends here. With the incident that happened last week with her beating up that kid, and her getting hit by that truck, they're gonna think it's a suicide attempt."

Yusuke tightened his grip on his schoolbag and gritted his teeth. 'I'm gonna make sure that those damn people know what kind of a person was,' he thought while charging into the mass of people.

"You're Yusuke Urameshi!"

"Comment on Hikari Morino!"

"We heard that she's a terribly violent person!"

News reporters blabbering about surrounded Yusuke. "SHUT UP!!" he shouted and they all went quiet. "HIKARI MORINO WAS AN AWESOME PERSON DAMN IT!! SURE SHE'S NOT THE MOST UPSTANDING CITIZEN, BUT SHE'S FUNNY AS HELL AND SHE CARED ABOUT PEOPLE ON THE INSIDE EVEN IF SHE WAS MEAN!!"

The press was recording Yusuke and cameras were flashing about. "She was one of my best friends," he said sadly. "And you guys… YOU GUYS HAVE NO RESPECT FOR SOMEONE WHO JUST DIED IN AN ACCIDENT!!"

Yusuke pushed his way forcefully out of the crowd and into the school, closely followed by Kuwabara.

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I honestly appreciate it if I got reviews or something especially for this chapter. Hopefully you'd still want to read the next chapter with what's just happened.


	22. Meet the Parents

I'm sure the last one was quite a shocker. Here is the last chapter of Your Average Delinquent. Please enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anyone of the YYH cast.

**Warning: **The following is rated M for bad language and possibly disturbing violence.

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Slowly, everyone began adjusting to how things used to be before Hikari transferred in, everyone except for Yusuke. Even Hikari's brothers had accepted it by this time, seeing as how they had the proof right next to them, which they beat themselves up over every single day knowing they couldn't do anything then and even now.

After about a month, when all their schoolmates had just about finally gotten over the shock, Yusuke marches off to Koenma's, with his concerned friend Kuwabara following after him.

"Koenma, I want to go to Mongolia and give Hikari's a piece of my mind," Yusuke said slamming his desk on Koenma's desk.

Koenma sighed and said, "Yusuke, it's been a little over a month already. It's not healthy to be so obsessed with something like this. Her parents will get what's coming to them when they die. I know you care, but I can't just give you tickets to go to Mongolia."

"Are you gonna just let Hikari's death go like that?! The reason she died was because her parents performed freak experiments on her when she was a child and resulted in her being hunted down until she got hit by a car and being unable to rest in the Spirit World!!"

Koenma held his ground and ignored Yusuke's request, but it wasn't like Yusuke was gonna back down because of that. He kept going back to Koenma's every single day to ask. He went to ask Koenma diligently for a full two months without skipping a single day.

After those two months, Yusuke's visits became more infrequent but his desire to show Hikari's parents a good ass whooping was as strong as ever.

Then one day, Koenma called the gang over during their winter break.

All four of them stood there bundled up and sweating in Koenma's stuffy office. Koenma had an indescribable look on his face. It wasn't serious and solemn, but it wasn't light and airy either. The guys had a hard time trying to guess what was going through their boss' mind.

"I'm sure you might be a little puzzled as to why you've been called in," Koenma said as he shuffled some papers before putting them in a neat pile. Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei were all concentrating on the influential man in front of them. "It's not exactly a mission… I've decided that we should have a vacation."

The frowns disappeared from their faces and Kuwabara cheered. "Whoopie!! A vacation!!" he shouted. "Where are we going?"

"Mongolia," he stated simply and with that said, the tension in the air greatly shifted.

Kurama frowned and said, "Koenma-"

The prince put a hand up and said, "Like I said. It's a vacation."

He hopped out of his seat and walked towards the doors. "But, if I were to say leave a piece of paper indicating where a certain someone's parents worked on my desk…" his voice trailed off as he exited the room, leaving his spirit detectives in slight confusion.

They looked from one to another, each in bewilderment until Hiei decided to approach Koenma's desk and pick up that certain piece of paper. He read it over before walking out of the room, handing it to Yusuke on the way.

Two weeks later, Yusuke, Hiei, Kuwabara, Kurama, Koenma, and for some reason Botan went on a trip to Mongolia.

The six of them were walking down a road trying to find their way around. Koenma and Botan were taking this vacation literally and really enjoying the sights. With the exception of Hiei, the rest of the spirit detectives were concerned with trying to find Hikari's parents' experimental facility with not much luck whatsoever. Kurama opted for asking a local, but with the language barrier it was like being a deaf-mute.

Around noon, Koenma and Botan went off on their own to explore, leaving a genius, a pipsqueak, an airhead, and a hothead all on their own.

Yusuke was looking at the map with such intensity he would've set it on fire if he had that sort of power from his eyes. "Grrrr!!" Yusuke shouted while starting to crumple up the map.

"Yusuke! Stop that," Kurama said while prying Yusuke's hands from the map. They began walking, led only by their intuition. "We should be there soon."

"Ahem," Hiei cleared his throat. Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kurama all looked up from the map and saw big black gates to their right, past some street vendors. "You would've seen it earlier had you not been so interested in that piece of paper. We've passed by it seven times already."

Yusuke glared at the little fire demon and grabbed him by the collar. "You friggin twerp!! Why didn't you tell us?! We've been walking aimlessly since the friggin morning!!" Yusuke yelled making everyone stare.

Kurama held Yusuke back and whispered, "It's not the time or place to start a fight. We came here because of your persistency, Yusuke, remember that."

The four of them walked up to the big black gates with barbed wire lining the top with two security cameras.

"Obviously, we can't go through this way," Kurama said and then looked down on the map. "This facility can't even be located on here."

_Swish. Crack. Thud. Wham!_

In an instant, Hiei had destroyed both security cameras and made the gate fall. Stepping over the wreckage and onto the premises, Yusuke said, "Well done, shorty."

They walked for a while on the winding road leading to the large building, which they hated immediately. It didn't take long before they reached the entrance and could see the plate above the door, which read "Morino Experimental Facility" both in Japanese and Mongolian.

While staring at it with nothing but pure hatred, footsteps from both sides were heard. They looked and saw what seemed to be security according to their uniforms.

"I don't even wanna know why," Yusuke sighed, not in the mood, as he looked at his opponent, who had one wing and a beak. "SPIRIT GUN!!"

They immediately took out their opponents and ran inside not wanting to be met by anything or anyone. Down hallways, through joined rooms, they ran all over the place. Unfortunately, their jet lag had almost completely taken over them so even their most calm and levelheaded member was a tad bit irritated.

"We're obviously not getting any closer," Kurama said with an irritated tone. The dark bags underneath his eyes became more and more apparent as time passed.

Yusuke grunted in anger and said, "Maybe we should just grab the next person we find and force them to take us to their leader."

"We don't speak Mongolian," Kurama snapped, completely ignoring the joke. That's when a "normal" person in a lab coat walked by and everyone ran at him.

Yusuke was the first to catch up, and he spun him around and grabbed him by the collar. The man was… plain. Black thin-framed glasses, short unruly hair, wrinkles around the eyes, slightly tan skin, and a little stubble on his chin. Not to mention the priceless frightened look on his face, but that was unavoidable seeing as Yusuke looked like he was going to eat him.

"Take us," Yusuke said in Japanese, "where the Morinos are."

The man blinked in shock and his glasses fell off of one ear. "Ah!" he suddenly said. "You're Japanese!"

Yusuke let him go and let the guy straighten himself out. "It's been years since I've spoken to someone in Japanese. All I ever speak is Mongolian!" said the disheveled man. "Alright. This way."

The weak looking and oddly enthusiastic man began walking down the hall they chased him down and all the guys could do was stare at each other in disbelief.

'Is he serious?' they all thought, but followed nonetheless.

They arrived in a large laboratory, which was a blinding white. Many lab tables were placed all over the room with both a human and an animal sitting on each one. The gang continued to follow the man, but with more caution and alertness. They arrived at a door, where the man looked at them with a serious look before opening it and letting them all in.

There was a person floating in a tank filled with green water in the center of the room. Their eyes were wide open and unfocused. There were multiple wires connected to them. From behind the tank, a woman with long black hair, a lab coat, and clipboard walked around.

'…_Every once in a while, this lady with long black hair and a clip board would come in and not say a word as she jotted things down…__' _rang through Yusuke's mind. 'That's Hikari's mother…'

She had this piercing look in her eyes that made you feel like your thoughts weren't safe. She also had this mocking smile that made everyone's blood boil.

"_Who are these people?_" she asked in Mongolian.

The man looked at her and replied in Japanese with a sad smile, "I'm not sure. I just met them on my way here. I'll go make some tea."

She looked at them, her expression unchanging. "So you're Japanese?" she said and they all nodded. She walked over to a chair and sat in it. "If you don't mind, I'm in the middle of work. So could you please tell me the reason that you're here?"

"You're Hikari's mother aren't you?" Yusuke asked, his voice firm.

Hikari's mother seemed surprised by this question, but the face that they so desired to break in returned and she replied. "Yes, that's me, Ryoko Morino," she replied. "So you're Hikari's friends?"

The four of them glared at her without any response to her foolish question. "Did you know she died a few months ago?" Yusuke replied.

Her mask of superiority disappeared and was replaced by one of stone. "Hikari died?" she asked in a quiet yet menacingly way.

"I'm sure you know of Japanese demons," Kurama said, and she let out a small chuckle. "One was after her and to make a long story short, she was hit by a truck."

"A truck is what killed that child?" Hikari's mother asked with nothing less than a glare.

"Why did you experiment on Hikari and her brothers?" Yusuke asked.

"I see, so you know about Dameon and Mattias as well," she said. "What good boys they were…"

"Don't fuck with me!!" Yusuke shouted.

"The three of them possessed a very special gene… actually, birth defect," she replied. Her face had changed back to mocking them. "We discovered it by chance when we were trying to figure out how to make human and animal hybrids. Obviously, the defect itself was more important than our silly experiments."

"Why did her brothers die?"

"Their aged bodies couldn't handle the experiments. Hikari's body on the other hand was still fresh and perfect to experiment on," she said proudly. "Now that she's dead, it'll be hard to have another test subject. All that waiting…"

"You bitch…" Kuwabara said through gritted teeth.

Ryoko laughed and said, "Say what you like. My research was successful."

"Didn't you care about your own children?"

She sighed with a bored look in her eyes and said, "Not much, really. When my husband and I moved to America on business and had our two sons, they grew up the way I wanted them to be, smart, mature, and masculine. We moved back to Japan and once they decided to fall into the wrong crowd after all I raised them to be, my husband and I moved again to Mongolia after being offered a chance to have our own facility, in charge of our own experiments without being interrupted by the government."

"Why Mongolia?"

She smiled wider and said, "Why, indeed. No one would ever think of Mongolia."

"Who's your husband?"

"Sorry for the wait!" the man from earlier announced happily as he reentered the room. He passed out cups of tea on a tray to everyone.

"Do you know what kind of shit Hikari's had to go through because of you?" Yusuke asked harshly.

Kurama and Hiei were the only ones who noticed the slump in the man's shoulders and the solemn expression on his face.

"She's felt betrayed, alone, depressed, and hardly ever at ease!!" he shouted. "Not only because you murdered her brothers but also because you had to adopt that stupid step-sister of hers!"

"Explain why you adopted Oyuun," Kurama said.

"I thought Hikari would be lonely," Ryoko replied in a fake sad voice. The man quietly dragged his feet out of the room.

"Oyuun has made Hikari's life hell all these years!!" Kuwabara shouted.

"I didn't raise Oyuun," she stated.

"Yeah, you didn't raise Hikari either," Yusuke said. "All she remembers is being stuck in a stupid white room, Oyuun picking on her, and her brothers leaving her when she was a kid. You're obviously not a parent."

"Didn't you feel bad for your own baby as you experimented on her?" Kuwabara asked while looking down at the ground. He couldn't handle looking at the person who sat before them and admitted to Hikari's hellish life as if it were a tea party and she was talking about what kind of china they were using.

"Not one bit-" _BANG!!_

There was a bullet hole in Ryoko's forehead, and slowly she slid onto the floor quietly.

Everyone's hearts were beating in their throats. They hadn't had a single clue as to what had just happened. Then they heard metal hit the floor next to them.

"I'm sorry about that." It was the man with the glasses. He had on that sad smile with his crooked glasses, but immediately fell to his knees and started shaking all over. The gun was still held in his hand. He was breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Yusuke shouted.

The man brought his hands up to his face and started crying. "I'm sorry!!" he apologized and bowed towards them. "I'm sorry!! That was the only thing I could offer as repentance!!"

"What are you talking about?" Kurama asked softly, wary of the gun the man held in his hands. The jet lag and sleepiness was completely washed away by the gunshot.

The man bowed again, still crying. "I'm really sorry for everything!!"

"Just tell us who you are!!" Yusuke shouted, but Kurama signaled him not to be so aggressive.

"I'm Kyousuke Morino," he cried and pounded his fist on the floor. "I'm a terrible father!! I should just die!!"

They went quiet as he kept crying and pounding his fist into the cold ground. "Please forgive us!! Both me and my wife!!" Kyousuke said while trying to hold back his tears. "I was never a strong person! When we were in college, I fell in love with Ryoko. We dated for a while, but I saw how manipulative she was. I was too scared to leave though. We ended up getting married and every business and experimental decision was all hers and I just followed. Even when my own children were being experimented on… I couldn't do anything but watch!! I'm the worst!! I should just die!!"

In an instant, he picked up his gun and shot himself beneath his chin.

Kurama, Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara were all in a state of shock as they watched the clean white floor was dyed red with their blood.

The four of them slowly made their way out of the room. They rushed the rest of the way out of that place and through the wreckage they made earlier. Running around for a while, they by chance ran into Botan and Koenma. Seeing their faces just made them feel relieved, like they were back home.

Looking into Yusuke's eyes, Koenma saw that even in those few hours, they had already been through a lot. Their "vacation" was cut severely short as they went back home that evening. During the entire flight, Yusuke was so tired and he begged to fall asleep, but the entire plane ride he was wide awake and exhausted. He had no appetite to eat and felt as if his life had been drained out of him.

They were at the airport waiting for their uselessly packed luggage at the baggage claim. The sliding doors often opened and closed letting in the cold winter breeze. It sent chills up and down the gang who had already been shaking from shock.

With their entire luggage finally collected, they stood outside. Koenma gave everyone plenty money to take a taxi home.

Yusuke sat in the backseat of the taxi and heaved a big sigh. He rested his head against the chilly window and looked outside at the dark scenery.

"You look tired, kid," the taxi driver said as he peered at Yusuke through the rear view mirror.

Yusuke was too exhausted to give some smart-ass reply so he just sighed. The past twenty-four hours or so were a big strain on his body and all Yusuke wanted to do was sleep forever.

"Yeah," he replied quietly. "Got that right old man."

After their winter break was over, they returned to school. Yusuke and Keiko had returned to being close. Everyone slowly began to start healing after such a mind-boggling trip.

…_It seems that no matter how sad I felt when I was right in front you, no one would notice… Now that I'm invisible, would you notice me now?_

* * *

Thank you so much for reading this story for so long!! Ever since January 20th of this year, thank you for these past seven months!!

**But wait there's more!!**

There will be a **SPECIAL**!! So stick around for it. You all are probably sick of me ha-ha.

There are a bunch of people I'd like to thank though so here's the list:

**voodoo-coffee-** for being the first person to review my story

**Lee Totema- **for reviewing my story 11 times

**rebabe- **for reviewing and introducing "sunny" as an adjective to describe more than the weather

**SS-lover06- **for finding the love note funny (at first I wasn't sure you were talking about because after writing 7 or 8 pages I completely forget what I just wrote XD)

**Kage Fuschichou- **for being "absolutely in complete and utter love" with my story

**dreamingloser- **for listening to "One More Time, One More Chance (Piano Ver.)" on YouTube for the previous chapter and being moved to tears

Thank you to **Daihime-chan, Kage Fuschichou, Lee Totema, TheBlessedDemon, **and **dreamingloser **for adding this story as their favorite.

Also thank you to **.feint.circles., Kage Fuschichou, KiraiAnca, Lee Totema, dreamingloser, inu-yusukekaiba102, **and **neolannia **for putting this story on alert.

Now let's not forget the infamous **"Jeri" **who used to correct my spelling mistakes. (I'm too lazy to bother with fixing them.)

Thank you to the people who put up with my HORRIBLE spelling and grammar mistakes.

...Just wondering, but would anyone want my e-mail address? Let me know!

**Meanwhile... WAIT FOR THE SPECIAL!!**


	23. Forget Me Not

Finally!! The long awaited SPECIAL CHAPTER!! Here you go, please enjoy!!

**Warning: **The following is rated M for violence and possible gore.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

**VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:** This chapter is an **alternate ending!! **I repeat, **ALTERNATE ENDING!!**

* * *

Hikari and Kira walked wordlessly into the cemetery, with the only sounds being the passing of cars, their footsteps, and the brush of the plastic bags against Hikari's legs.

They arrived at the graves, where Hikari wasted no time in taking the items she had previously purchased out of their plastic bags. The silent girl with a sad frown on her face plunged one incense stick into each orange and stood to line them up on top of the gravestones. She took out her lighter and after a little trouble at first, lit them all. Kneeling back down, Hikari carefully placed the bouquets in the middle of the two gravestones.

_Please, Dameon and Mattias... rest in peace another year. It's been ten years now. Hopefully you have been in peace this entire time, not holding grudges against anyone. Please, continue to watch over me. Take care up there, alright?_

Hikari prayed for her brothers with intensity and passion with her eyes shut tight hoping that when they would open she'd see them on the day of the anniversary of their death.

Kira was standing behind her, looking at the top of her head and at the names on the graves. "These are your older brothers?" he asked monotonously.

Hikari stood up and without facing him replied, "Yeah. They died on this day ten years ago."

Kira leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Then how would you like to go with them?"

Hikari was scared stiff now.

He switched over to the other ear and whispered, "Did I ever mention that you have the smell of strawberries?"

The key to the destruction of the world tried to run away, but Kira gave her a bear hug from behind.

"Don't think you can get away from me!! This special body was made to hide my demonic spirit energy and made to make any human I touch weak!! You're useless against- OOF!"

Suddenly, something had sent Kira backwards onto the ground and Hikari made a run for it towards the entrance. It didn't take long for Kira to get up on his feet though.

Meanwhile, Botan had interrupted Yusuke's class to warn him. Right in the middle of the lesson, he got out of his desk and ran through the hall with Keiko, who now had a broken heart, watching him running.

'Just hold on Hikari! I'm coming!' he thought to himself as he pushed himself to run faster and faster.

Hikari was nearing the front of the cemetery, when she heard Kira shouting angrily. As she ran, she looked over her shoulder a couple times to see what was going on, but nearly tripped in the process.

Once she was out of the cemetery and crossing the street, she looked back to see what was going on with Kira.

"LET ME GO!!"

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HIKARI!!"

"WE WOULD NEVER LET SOMEONE LIKE YOU GET ANYWHERE NEAR OUR SISTER WHO WE CAME BACK TO JAPAN FOR!!"

The last thing Hikari saw were those two faces she had always wanted to see again ever since she was five. Her brothers were holding back Kira with all their might.

"HIKARI!!"

Yusuke ran over to her body, which was lying sprawled out in the street. The truck driver had crashed into a light post, but he quickly climbed out to check on the girl.

"Go call an ambulance!" Yusuke shouted as he checked her pulse. It was there, but just barely. "Hang on, Hikari."

An ambulance soon came and rushed them to the hospital, where she was immediately sent into surgery.

Yusuke was pacing back and forth impatiently in the waiting room. The rest of the entire gang soon joined him.

"Yusuke, how is she?" Kurama asked.

Fighting the urge to snap at him, Yusuke replied, "She's suffering from severe injuries both external and internal. The doctors say it's a miracle she survived."

"You can thank Dameon and Mattias for that," Hiei said.

"Who?" they all asked.

"Her older brothers. I'm sure none of you had paid any attention to them," Hiei replied.

"Hiei, how do you know them?" Kurama asked.

"I've obviously spent more time at that cemetery than you have," he replied. "We've talked some. When Hikari was hit by that truck, at the last minute they sacrificed their half-lives to extend Hikari's."

"Half-lives?" Kuwabara asked.

"It's a long story. An idiot like you would never be able to comprehend it." With that said, they all went quiet.

"So to put it shortly, the only reason she's alive is because of Mattias and Dameon?" Kurama asked and Hiei nodded.

They waited. Hours and hours of waiting with that red sign above the door lit so brightly it was like it were toying with them. "Will she make it or will she die?" it seemed to asked them.

It was almost early morning and the light finally turned off. The doctor came out and everyone stood. "The surgery is finally finished," he said looking at all of them. "It's still hard to tell what will happen. Take that to mean that anything can happen at this point."

"Thank you, doctor," Botan said.

Through the hospital entrance, came two men one dressed in a flashy suit and sunglasses and the other dressed in a dark colored kimono. Oyuun followed behind them.

"Hey," said the one in sunglasses. "You're that kid that lives next door."

Yusuke turned around and saw Jin. "Y-yeah," he replied quietly.

"Where is she?" Oyuun asked.

"They're taking her to the ICU right now," Kurama replied.

"I'll go make sure she gets her own room," the old man in the kimono said before walking off.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Botan asked.

"Jin Yoshida. Old friends of Hikari's brothers," he said while pushing his sunglasses back onto his head to keep his hair out of his face. "Nice to meet you."

Botan cringed and stepped away from him. The man in the kimono soon returned and they all went through introductions.

Months passed and everyone was looking forward to summer vacation. Hikari was still in a coma, and now Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei were leaving for a few years to go meet his ancestor, Raizen, in the Demon World. Yusuke made everyone left in the human world to promise to come back together once they made it back home.

It was a lonely time without any of them around. Every now and then, someone would pay a visit to Hikari in the hospital. Her condition was not getting any better, but not any worse either.

Kuwabara and Keiko were working hard in high school, and when they found the time to visit Hikari, they also prayed for the safety of Yusuke and the others as well.

About two years passed and Oyuun had been transferred to Hokkaido some time after quitting her night job, so Hikari had to also be transferred to a hospital in Hokkaido.

When Yusuke and the others came back after three years of being gone, everyone felt displaced without Hikari to top off the gathering. Since she had been transferred to a new hospital, no one had heard any news if she had gotten out of a coma. At the very least they new she was still alive since her critical injuries had somewhat healed the years she was first in the hospital.

Two years after the Spirit Detective returned home, he was passing by a university when something caught the corner of his eye. It seemed so slow as Yusuke turned his head to see who it was. A little older, same eyes, same hair, and same face… it had to be her right?

"Hikari!"

The girl barely glanced at Yusuke and just kept talking to her girl friends as they exited the campus and brushed past Yusuke, leaving him shattered.

The next day, he waited at the front gate for her. Yusuke saw her walking, but she didn't acknowledge his presence whatsoever.

Yusuke became something of a stalker as he kept waiting there every school day and shouting her name.

Until one day, she had something to say about it. Instead of completely ignoring him, once she exited the school and was walking towards the front gate, she had her eyes dead set and marched towards him.

"Finally you realize it's me-"

"Listen you pervert!" she threatened. "I don't know why the hell you keep yelling my name out like this every single day, but I am not afraid to call the police on your ass!"

Leaving Yusuke in bewilderment, the girl stomped off. Yusuke didn't just quit there though. He kept going and shouted her name as always.

One afternoon, Yusuke was just about to shout her name when someone else beat him to it. He looked to his right and saw someone from Hikari's funeral and that other guy… Jin Yoshida. The guy that called out her name had quite a few piercings, not unlike Hikari.

"Kino!!" Hikari's voice rang happily as she ran up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Jin noticed someone staring intently at them. It caught him by surprise to see Hikari's old neighbor. "Hey, Kino. You and Hikari go for a small ride. I'll call you when I need to be picked up," Jin said as he pulled out a cigarette and lighter.

"Uh, sure," Kino replied uncertainly as he and Hikari got into the car. As they drove off, Jin walked over to Yusuke and said, "Yo. It's been a while."

"Yeah, six years sure flies by fast," Yusuke replied sarcastically.

Jin placed a hand on Yusuke's shoulder before walking past him and said, "C'mon. I'll go treat you to something."

They were at a yakitori bar eating yakitori and drinking some beer. Jin bit a piece of meat off of the skewer and said, "I bet it surprised you."

"Got that right," Yusuke muttered bitterly before sipping his beer. "You're close to Hikari. Why doesn't she remember me, but she remembers that guy?"

Jin chuckled and said, "She doesn't remember Kino. She just barely remembers me from when she was a kid. She believes that we just met nearly two and a half years ago, about half a year after she woke up."

Yusuke's eyes widened and asked, "Wha-What?"

Jin let out a heavy sigh and guzzled down the rest of the beer in his mug. "When Oyuun had moved up to Hokkaido, I often paid trips there just to check up on Hikari on my own time. The doctor told me that all her injuries were almost completely healed and she was responding quite well while in a coma, but that she had lost part of her memory."

"…Is it permanent memory loss?"

Jin gave a small nod. "Her doctor said the chances were pretty much impossible that she could recover a tiny bit of her memory. So far, she hasn't regained any memories whatsoever. The doctor said that it would be better to just tell her that she got into an accident on her way home from school and she's been in a coma starting from the time she can't remember anything."

"What does Hikari remember then?" Yusuke asked in a shaky voice.

"Everything before transferring to Sarayashiki."

Yusuke pounded his fist on the table before downing the rest of his beer and asking for a second. "So what about her and that Kino guy?"

"Relationship-wise?" Jin asked slightly amused.

"No duh."

"They're already engaged."

"Don't fuck with me."

"I kinda wish I were kidding," Jin said. "Hikari's grown up. Kino's a good guy. He would be six feet under if he ever made Hikari upset."

"How is she with that whole yakuza thing?" Yusuke asked as he sipped his new mug of beer.

"Fine, as always," Jin said while continuing to eat.

"When's the wedding?"

"Next month." Jin drank down the rest of the beer in his glass and then said, "Hikari… has been working hard getting used to motherly duties. She often does the laundry for everyone and cooks as well. She's learned different styles of cooking too, though they're not exactly perfect. She's become more ladylike as well. Would you like to go?"

Yusuke looked up from his half finished plate of yakitori and asked, "Go where?"

"Her wedding. Would you like to go?"

"Hah!" Yusuke laughed bitterly. "I'll probably get thrown out just because she'll think I'm a stalker."

"I can make up a story that'll get that confusion over with." A waitress came over and gave Jin a new glass of beer. "Ah, thank you. There's no fixed amount of people attending so you wouldn't need an invitation to get in or anything."

Yusuke sipped his own beer and said sarcastically, "Like that's hard to believe."

Jin pretended to ignore his comment and wrote down something on a napkin. "Well if you'd like to attend, it's here," he said and slid over the napkin.

The slightly depressed Spirit Detective glanced down at the piece of paper and then looked away. Yusuke sighed and said, "There's no use in me going."

"Hm? Why not?"

"What's the use in seeing the girl I like marrying some other guy?"

"Well you could always just see her in the wedding dress."

Yusuke stood up and said, "Thanks, but I'll pass. Thanks for the yakitori and beer though."

And like that, Yusuke walked out of the restaurant and also out of Hikari's life. Jin finished off the rest of the food and the beer before pulling out his wallet and paying.

Two weeks later, the gang of four gathered at Koenma's palace. "It's been hard monitoring Hikari these past couple of years without being seen, but it seems that Hikari's power of possibly destroying the world has completely disappeared. It seems that when Dameon and Mattias, Hikari's brothers, traded their 'lives' to help save hers, it also seemed to suppress it enough all these years that it has finally disappeared completely."

This news however didn't make them feel any better. Telling them this didn't change the fact that she could no longer recognize their faces or immediately turn when they called her name. Kurama could reintroduce himself, but there was too much that they've been through and trying to make her remember something wouldn't be wise. It would just be troublesome to try and get to know her again.

The next month, Hikari happily married Kino. Not long after, someone shot the Oyabun of the Onizuka family and in his will, made Jin the new head of the family. Oyuun, who was still in Hokkaido, was promoted to manager of the supermarket she was working at and was happily making money without spreading her legs.

As for the gang, Keiko and Yusuke began officially dating while Keiko was in a university. Kuwabara ended up a rounin and kept trying to study hard to get into Tokyo University while Shizuru often breathed down his neck threatening him if he didn't get in. Kurama accepted a career offer as a scientist doing tests on plants. Hiei… was around someplace. The gang ended up growing farther apart as they grew older, with the exception of Hiei and Kurama, and only coming together for a few extremely dangerous missions.

In the end, Hikari and Kino had a happy marriage with five children with the first three boys and the last two a pair of girl twins. Only the sons inherited the Morino glare, the glare that Jin had identified Hikari with. Jin, with no family of his own and no intention of having one, ended up spoiling Hikari's children, especially the girls. Hikari's and the gang's lives stayed completely separate the rest of their lives.

During the rest of his lifetime, there wasn't one day that Yusuke didn't regret not trying to get to know Hikari again. He often found himself laughing about their first encounter, which was by pure chance. Laughing and thinking about it made him wonder if it really happened though. He also recalled coming over to her apartment next door just to eat whatever Hikari would make. Maybe if he had accidentally bumped into her again, then maybe something would have been different, but Yusuke couldn't change the past and so he had to live with that. Wondering what if this and that happened always hung at the back of his mind whenever he would walk past Sarayashiki and past the park that they played hookie at. It was fine to wonder about what would have happened, right? But even Yusuke had a small but happy family with Keiko to worry about during his life.

* * *

Thank you so much for these past 7 months!! I can now change the status of this story to "Complete"!! Everyone, thank you!!


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